This is the second of a two-part story on a community forum hosted by the Gang Reduction Initiative of Pine Bluff:
Kymara Seals, one of the leaders of the anti-violence group United Citizens of Pine Bluff, knows all too well the importance of sharing data in fighting crime locally. Her group conducted a citywide survey last year and shared results with members of the Pine Bluff City Council.
Seals is also one of a large number of GRIP committee members, many of whom are top law enforcers, judges, city and prosecuting attorneys and education leaders. (Jefferson County Sheriff Lafayette Woods Jr. is the GRIP chairman.) “From a community perspective, we’ve got to come with recommendations,” Seals said. “We’re working on that, but it’s been hard. It’s been challenging on our committee because we’ve got so much feedback. We are having challenges, and then having to figure out how to narrow it down. We, for the community piece, we’ve got to get to that point and our goal is to get to that point in September. We will be making some recommendations to GRIP, to municipal government and everybody that will listen.” Pine Bluff School District Superintendent Barbara Warren was pleased the forum continued a conversation about how to curb youth-related violence and how public schools can feel safer to students.
“I love the approach all of us are a part of this,” Warren said. “In terms of safety, there are a variety of different things we are doing in the district from things associated with traffic pattern adjustments and software equipment and a variety of other tools, trying as well to educate our staff members.” District leaders are poring over results of a security audit from Strategos International, which will be shared during a stakeholder meeting and help develop training for the entire staff, both in September, Warren said.
Sixth Division Juvenile Court Judge Earnest Brown Jr., GRIP’s vice-chairman, suggested to Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington the city could fund a position of project director for the organization. GRIP is not financially supported by the city, but Washington seemed to embrace Brown’s idea.
“We think that’s something we’re going to have to have, because we’ve got to have somebody whose sole job is coordinating this effort if it’s going to be effective and successful,” she said. “So, we’re going to look at some avenues that we might take to come up with that salary.” Washington said she’ll have to go before the city council to see if she can secure the funding for the position. Brown has given the pursuit a head start by developing a job description.
“That person is, as Michelle Darling described, pulling all the entities together and not being beholden to the sheriff ’s department or juvenile court but working under the leadership of reducing crime, really getting in grassroots and working that in place,” Brown said. “We need somebody that is not part-time probation officer or part-time sheriff ’s deputy but fully focused on this initiative, and one thing the mayor and I talked about is the need to evaluate reduction in our people dying. We know who the major players are, bringing them in, offering them an opportunity for jobs, mental health and to get away from gangs.”