As part of our quarterly dialogue with Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, we asked him several questions from our social media audience, and a few of our own.
Here is what he had to say about reducing crime:
Q: I live in the South Ward near Lyons Avenue. What is being done in these types of hot spots to reduce crime in my neighborhood?
Mayor Baraka: “Well, the police have a list of hotspots and so does the Office of Violence Prevention. So if it is a hotspot…the police are in those hotspots regularly and the Office of Violence Prevention are working in those communities to reduce violence and crime through youth organizations and the other non-profit organizations that we have given money to do family intervention, children intervention, community counseling, all kinds of things that they are doing in those kinds of neighborhoods to reduce violence and crime. The good thing is the South Ward, especially the area that she is talking about, has witnessed a reduction in violent crimes over the last couple of years so the work they’re doing over there is obviously taking hold.”
Q: Why should residents feel safer in Newark?
Mayor Baraka: “They should feel safe in the City because last year we ended the year with a reduction in crime in all categories except stolen cars. We have a 60-year low in homicides in the city so they should feel a lot safer than they normally felt. I think that most of it is perception. You know anything that happens (bad) in Newark they play it over and over again as opposed to the fact that we have a reduction, and a 60-year low in violence.”
Q: Why should visitors feel safer in Downtown Newark?
Mayor Baraka: “We also just opened up a new precinct in downtown Newark. A brand new Arts and Education District precinct, not the mini precinct but a full-service precinct in the downtown area covering from Lincoln Park up to Martin Luther King, all the way down to Peter Francisco Park, all the way over to Central Avenue so you’ll see more presence, more cars, and more walking patrols in the downtown area.”
Q: How does expanding efforts with trauma intervention and reentry programs help to reduce crime?
Mayor Baraka: “It helps the victims of crime and the perpetrators of crime. You start talking to people and getting them the services they need when they first begin to involve themselves in violence and crime then it kind of stops them from continuing to do that. It also stops retaliatory violence, which occurs with people who have been victimized, who now become perpetrators because they’ve been victimized. We are engaging in young people’s lives and their families’ lives to deter people who we know may become violent from doing so.”
