‘Our streets, our problem:’ Baton Rouge leaders hold gun violence prevention panel
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Baton Rouge community leaders hosted a violence prevention panel aimed at finding a solution to gun violence.
According to East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore, there have been 67 murders so far in 2022. 55 of those were within the city limits of Baton Rouge.
“We’re all we have right now, but it seems like we’re fighting each other,” Travis Albert said.
YWCA Baton Rouge spearheaded the community meeting at Club Bella Noche Thursday night. Organizers said they picked this location for a very specific reason.
“Tonight is about doing it differently. We have different faces, we got folks that can actually speak to this population, speak to this community, and they live in it. So, they know exactly what’s happening on their block,” said Eugene Collins, President of the Baton Rouge Chapter of the NAACP.
Panelists spent time informing people about what’s happening around the parish and got a chance to hear people’s concerns about the recent amount of crime.
Solutions mentioned included more resources, more programs, and more investments in low-income areas.
“If we leave here and it’s just talking, and we don’t put anything in place that we talked about, then nothing happens. So it’s taking what we learned here tonight and implementing it into those strategies,” said Collins
People that spoke tonight fear we have reached a breaking point in the city.
One panelist told us some people have been conditioned to think the amount of violence that’s happening right now is acceptable.
“A lot of people don’t even know half of the things that can happen because of the stuff they put themselves into,” Lil’ Trill, a recording artist and Baton Rouge native said.
Organizers said we can’t put all the weight on the mayor or police to fix this. They said it will take more people like the ones that showed up at Thursday’s meeting to step up.
”If we hope to change things, I think we have to do more things like this,” Collins said.
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