Edmondson Village community asks city leaders for change after five students shot
BALTIMORE -- The Edmondson Village Community Association met with city leaders on Thursday to discuss their concerns about the violence reverberating through the southwest side of the city.
The discussion was held in a forum aimed at addressing the concerns of neighborhood residents following a shooting that left one Baltimore City Public School student dead and four others injured.
The five students were shot after they left Edmondson-Westside High School during their lunch hour to go to the Edmondson Village Shopping Center across the street on Jan. 4.
That is when two people opened fire in the parking lot of the shopping complex, authorities said.
In an effort to identify the shooters, police released still images taken from surveillance cameras in the area. However, the people suspected of killing 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey and wounding four others have not been arrested.
The kids in the neighborhood have nowhere to go, and that's why they often end up at the shopping complex, Joyous Jones said.
"The level of crime is just phenomenal," she said. "It's beyond crisis."
Paris Gray, the community outreach coordinator, agreed with Jones' assessment.
"We need help desperately with this shopping center because that's the root of our problem here in the village," Gray said.
The first-of-its-kind meeting at the Central Church of Christ brought together community members, association presidents, neighborhood liaisons, youth advocates and city officials, including Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, City State's Attorney Ivan Bates and a member of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).
Neighborhood residents fired off questions to city leaders, asking what they could do to help the city's youth.
Harrison and Bates said they intended to make sure that people were held accountable for committing crimes.
"My job is to work in partnership with the police, with all organizations to do everything we can to make sure we do everything for you to feel safe," Bates said at the forum. "Some people will go to jail and some people may just need a diversion."
Harrison said the problem stemmed from people committing violent acts "because they don't know how to solve their conflicts."
But the problem runs deeper than that, Dr. Ted Sutton, a community advocate, said.
"Officer Friendly, we don't even know him anymore," Sutton said. "We actually have to bring the neighbor back in the hood so it's not just a hood, it's a neighborhood."
Some residents said the problem was partly with the condition of the neighborhood.
People are afraid to come out at night, Jones said.
"We need lights in Edmondson Village," she said. "Light it up. Give us a place for our children to go. If anybody wants to address that, I'd be more than happy to hear."
Harrison said the police and community should be working together to come up with a policing plan that is tailor-made for Edmondson Village.
"Teach community members and police how to get together and co-design a community policing plan that's unique for your neighborhood," he said.
The community meetings are slated to occur every three months.