Let's Acknowledge the Lower Number of Homicides in 2011

We're almost at the halfway point of 2011 and homicides in the city are down sharply compared to the past four years.  There have been five homicides this year, January through this writing on June 10.  That number is less than half the average of 12.75 for the same range of months for 2007 - 2010.  That's a 61% drop in murders for this year compared to the average for the last four years.

To me, this is huge.

I have no idea if quality of life crimes such as burglary or auto theft are down similarly but something is making a difference.  I know that violence hasn't dropped off as much as city residents would like.  Shootings still occur and it's clear that the fine people who operate St. E's emergency room contribute to keeping the homicide rate low.

But what else is working?  Is it the stand Father Maturi took after the vicious attacks last year on St. Dominic's parishoners?  That probably had a lot to do with focusing city leadership on Southside crime.  It could have been the involvement of the Federal government in working with city police to take down the criminal LSP gang on the southside as well as numerous successful busts of drug dealers.  But some of those busts had an odd feel to them, almost as if the Feds were themselves and the Youngstown was Pakistan.  They swooped in and took out the problem without letting the city know they were coming to get Osama. 

Now that we have some momentum how do we keep it going?  Summer is here and poverty is still crushing the Southside and the Eastside.  Unemployment may be improving in the city but not enough to keep idle hands occupied.  I'm once again struck by the dichotomy of the current administration; they accomplish good things when they attempt large projects, like demolishing abandoned structures but falter when they need to be proactive with a problem.  It's clear money is tight but is there no way the mayor could pick up the phone and wrangle some money out of the area's big businesses to run a limited summer jobs program?  Kids who learn to work early on will probably get a sense of pride out of earning their own way.  It may be nothing more than cleaning streets, painting over grafitti or mowing grass but it's accomplishing something rather than looking for a way to get into trouble.  If someone does know of such a program, I stand ready to be corrected.  None of my search results or the Youngstown city homepage list such a program.