Fighting Gun Crime
Yesterday's press event in Brownsville was a good one: BJA director Denise O'Donnell, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, Brooklyn DA Joe Hynes and US Attorney Loretta Lynch spoke in front of a crowd of several dozen community residents and reporters at the Stone Avenue Library. Despite the fact that everyone was there because of a serious problem (gun violence in the neighborhood), the mood in the room was upbeat and optimistic.
The program that we are launching in Brownsville, which we are calling the Brownsville Anti-Violence Project, attempts to bring together law enforcement and community voices to deliver a clear message to potential offenders that violence is not acceptable. In many ways, yesterday's press conference embodied the underlying values of the project -- it gathered together federal officials, local justice system players, social service providers, and neighborhood residents to talk about how to work collaboratively to solve community problems.
All of the speakers were great, but my favorite was probably Mark Tanis, a Brownsville business leader. Here is a YouTube video that offers a portion of his remarks:
And here are selected links to some of the coverage from the press conference:
