ANTI-CRIME PROGRAM HEADS TO FORT PIERCE

I've seen frustration in their eyes. I've heard anger and resignation in
their pleas for help. I've witnessed their feeling of helplessness in the
face of what seems like official indifference.

I've spent time lately with the mothers of northwest Fort Pierce, and they
are heartsick at what's happening to their neighborhoods.

I heard the mother of a soldier home from the Army describe an attack on
her son that was far more frightening than anything he experienced overseas.

A young woman spoke eloquently about returning to Fort Pierce after a long
absence in the service herself.

"Fort Pierce is more scary than Iraq," she said of drug dealers who
routinely block her street and are a law unto themselves.

I sat across the table this week from a gracious mother who lost her 17-
year-old son to gunshots almost a year ago. His killers still have not been
caught.

Every one of these ladies asks the same question: When are we going to do
something about the violence that plagues our city?

Ask the police chief that question and he refers to money and manpower
shortages. The city has promised six more officers next year; that will
barely cover his department's daily needs, he says, let alone the ones that
might make a difference.

It's the same story at City Hall. Mayor Eddie Enns told a group of
concerned citizens at this week's City Commission meeting that it all boils
down to money, and the city doesn't have any. Enns does see some hope for
salvation through the Weed and Seed program.

The police fully support the Weed and Seed initiative but some, privately,
share the same reservations.

"It's been two years already, and we're still no nearer," one officer told me.

Some of Savage's own frustration boiled over this week when he said "Trying
to solve this problem is an impossible mandate. A lot of the factors are
out of our control -- parentless kids being raised by teenagers, girls of
13, 14 having babies themselves."

The chief is right, of course. The violence in the northwest section of the
city is borne of many factors: parental apathy, lack of control, lack of
decent job prospects and the breakdown of traditional family structure.

None of these will go away by putting a few more cops on the street or by
keeping a police station open all night.

What I do notice recently, however, is a greater willingness on the part of
residents to tackle the problem themselves. I've heard the phrase "It takes
a village" so many times over the past couple of weeks.

I'd like to make a suggestion. I believe we need a "crime charrette," to
take place in Lincoln Park.

Charrettes are public brainstorming sessions used by city planners to learn
what residents would like to see in their communities. Citizens gather to
offer any ideas that pop into their heads. These concepts are then refined
in small breakout groups, and the professionals come back to present the
community's vision within a couple of weeks. The idea has been used several
times to great effect in the city. Why not use it to fight the crime problem?

That may be about to happen. A new federally funded anti-crime program
called Operation Safe Neighborhoods is coming to Fort Pierce soon. The
object is to develop a multipronged strategy to combat gun violence. By
inviting officials, social experts, concerned citizens and the residents of
those areas under fire to spend the day together, it's hoped to hammer
together a plan to stop the killing.

I'm not sure if it will work, but I am sure of one thing. The mothers of
Lincoln Park will be there, ready to tell us all about their "village." We
should listen.