Apr 29, 2008 11:33 am US/Central
Activists Take To Streets To Denounce Violence
Ministers, Others Complain Of Lack Of Funding For Intervention Programs
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
As violence and homicide continue to plague Chicago – especially the young – activists are taking to the streets in an effort to draw attention to the growing problem.
As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, ministers and community activists held a demonstration in the Thompson Center plaza Tuesday morning. They called on the Illinois General Assembly to provide more funding for programs to help prevent violence.
The group chanted, "Stop the shooting! Kids want to grow up!" as they called attention to the 40 shootings in Chicago last week. They pointed out that 13 victims were Chicago Public Schools students.
Map Of The ShootingsMinisters say violence is on the rise because of a lack of funding for at-risk youth programs that provide summer jobs and other opportunities to stop the cycle of criminal behavior. But they praised Gov. Rod Blagojevich's efforts.
"We laud him for addressing violence by putting programs in the hands of the community and not the police," said community activist Roy Taylor. "However, we need more funding for deliberate intervention programs that work to stop street violence, and have resulted in an unacceptable rise in shootings in our community."
The group referenced the weekend before last as being the most notorious. During that weekend, 38 people were shot and 12 people died. It was considered especially shocking, and summer usually brings more violence.
The group also called for funding for ex-offender programs that move to parolees to what they call more responsible alternatives to crimes and drugs.
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