An Interesting Note

This information was passed along to The Tazer, and we've moved to the main page as quickly as possible...VERY interesting.

The Tazer has also included its response:
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Here are the homicide rates for earlier years (the ones some folks want to ignore):

Year Gun Homicides Total Homicides:

1985 11 (55%) 20
1986 17 (81%) 21
1987 10 (55%) 18
1988 24 (75%) 32
1989 33 (82%) 40
1990 25 (69%) 36
1991 47 (76%) 62
1992 39 (85%) 46
1993 51 (93%) 55
1994 28 (54%) 52

data courtesy of Sergeant Anthony Zanetelli, , Homicide Division, RichmondPolice Department

Info obtained from following site:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/usr/wbardwel/public/nfalist/contra_costa_rebuttal.txt
Although it's often convenient to throw out data that doesn't support ones argument, it is misleading. We all have to face the facts, Richmond has seen extreme and often senseless violence for a long time and under the rule of numerous mayors.

Anonymous
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TAZER RESPONSE:

Did these numbers make it on to the Tazer in a comment? I’m going to move them to the main page.

People do need to be aware of this trending, and I don’t believe anyone wants to ignore it…

One has to wonder though, does Richmond have an “orgy type nepotism style” when it comes to city officials? How long have Butt, Viramontes, Rogers, Marquez and others been there? Hell, I graduated in 92, and most of those names were either on the council or damn close, f@%!ing up city politics somewhere.

Irma is simply a continuation of that process. Until a fresh group of people who are not in that mix are in place (including the mayor), it will be SOS.

She can’t run from it, nor can anyone else involved…if you are in charge, you’ll be held responsible and in most normal instances, pay with not being re-elected and wear the badge of failure when it comes to public service.

I get an odd twinge when I see the years 91-94, seeing as I ducked my fair share of bullets, watched friends die and watched the old RUSD f!@k up money so badly that our class almost didn’t graduate due to the district going bankrupt.

Finally, in my travels as a consultant, I had the chance to visit the town of Gifford Florida and meet its people. After that experience, I refuse to believe that any city with a large minority population cannot get their city officials to get things done. They’ve ran out drug dealers, poverty pimps and a lot of crime by saying no more and forcing the Vero Beach City Council to own up to past failures while holding them responsible for all actions.
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Your comments, as always, are welcome.

Dude, Where's My Council Meeting?

Yesterday was Tuesday, so The Tazer thought MAYBE The City Council would find it necessary to get together and discuss a few things...

To our surprise, they didn't. We guess they were a little tired, given they had a "special meeting" to interview candidates to help out with the City Charter AND a "special joint session" with the County School Board on May 25th.

What a great reason to get together! Gotta interview those 6 figure candidates to help revise the revision of the revised charter...tell us, is it going to stop people from getting killed? We didn't think so...

And the "joint session" with the school board...what did you get done there guys? Oh right, Irma let us all know that it had been a while since you all got together to get nothing done.

Yes, The Tazer is a bit salty. See, we can't understand how 2 special sessions can be held, yet no mention of or progress in stopping the senseless violence in our city. Then, on a ACTUAL TUESDAY, all is quiet...

We suppose that we'll see some "action" at next Tuesday's Council meeting (there is going to be one right?), juuuuuuuust in time for everyone to get their political positioning in. How fitting that the date just so happens to be primary election day.

The Tazer would like to commend you Political pimps for being truly pathetic...you're great at it! BTW, did you make a decision on who's going to get that 6 figure position to help with the charter?

Updater

This is the official story regarding the Monday shooting in Richmond that started in another jurisdiction (Credit CBS5):

May 29, 2006

One man was shot to death by San Pablo police in Richmond this evening after a vehicle pursuit turned into a physical confrontation, according to Richmond police Sgt. Enos Johnson.

San Pablo police tried to pull over a vehicle in the area of Wilcox Avenue and 20th Street a few minutes after 5 p.m. today for reckless driving, Johnson said.

The vehicle did not yield to police, and San Pablo police chased the vehicle into Richmond, according to Johnson. The pursuit ended when the vehicle crashed into a parked car in the area of South Fifth Street and Florida Avenue.

One of the occupants of the vehicle took off on foot, but a San Pablo police officer caught up to him. A struggle ensued between the man and one San Pablo police officer in the 200 block of South Fourth Street.

They were joined by a second San Pablo police officer, who also became involved in the struggle, Johnson said. The man was shot once by police during the fight and died on the scene, according to Johnson.

Johnson was unsure as to if there was a second person in the vehicle that police had been pursuing. The two police officers were treated for minor injuries. An investigation into the incident will be conducted by the Richmond and San Pablo police departments, as well as by the Contra Costa County district attorney's office, Johnson said.

Copyright © 2006 cbs5.com, All Rights Reserved.
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Our Youth Doing Great Things!

Young people doing great work...is eveyone listening? :


RICHMOND Students come forward to stem school violence At Kennedy High, nonprofit group teaches alternatives
Simone Sebastian, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, May 27, 2006

In the hallways of Kennedy High School in Richmond, a student effort is under way to use peer pressure to help prevent violence and change the school's tough image.

"When I was in middle school, I was terrified to come here," admitted Cassandra Salisbury, a junior who is part of the anti-violence program. "Seniors would tell me stories -- Kennedy has gang problems, you can get shot, you'll get stabbed. It's (because of) nobody opening up their eyes that we've kept this bad reputation. But we're trying."

Salisbury and scores of other students are working with a year-old anti-violence organization called Future Leaders for Peace, which identifies the most influential students and trains them to become role models by denouncing violence.

They are being trained, for example, to keep their ears open and to mediate disputes among students before trouble breaks out.

"We want to show that the leaders in the school are interested in preventing conflict, not starting it," said Jonathan Kathrein, a co-founder of the nonprofit organization, which has made Kennedy its flagship project. "That will start a ripple effect in the school and waves throughout the district."

Kathrein and his group of volunteers -- primarily a dozen UC Berkeley students and alumni -- spend several days a week at Kennedy working with students and administrators to strengthen the school's conflict mediation program and identify student mentors for local elementary schools, among other things.

By making students an active part of their school's turnaround, Kathrein believes Future Leaders for Peace gives them a sense of responsibility and a reason to avoid the allure of crime in their neighborhoods.

"That was the problem here -- we had no leaders at this school,'' said Richmond police Officer Delon Jackson, Kennedy's school resource officer. "Now we have kids telling each other to go to study hall. When they come here, they have to walk past drugs, pimps and prostitutes. So this is a safe haven for them."

Numerous youth anti-violence programs have formed and folded with varying degrees of success in Richmond, a city with a national reputation for murder and violence.
According to Richmond police Lt. Michael Booker, on-campus violence has decreased significantly at Kennedy in recent years even though officers are being called there more often -- from 60 times in 2003 to 74 times in 2005.

"It doesn't mean there was a crime increase," Booker said. "When the school is in a partnership (with the Police Department), they'll call a lot more than a school that doesn't have a relationship."

Kennedy's existing anti-violence programs have provided added support, leading the school to become nearly crime-free, he said.

"We use Kennedy as the flagship for the rest of the district," Booker said. "This is the school that has seen the most progress."

Future Leaders for Peace began its program at Kennedy in January and hopes to spread to other Richmond schools next year. Since starting the organization in 2005 with retired businessman Richard Hunter, Kathrein and 12 volunteers have provided workshops and speeches about conflict prevention and mediation at Bay Area schools from Berkeley to San Rafael.

Kathrein, 24, was inspired to start the organization after years of traveling and studying international conflicts as a student at UC Berkeley. He determined that his inspiration wasn't in Ireland or the Middle East.

"I realized we don't need to pay so much attention to the conflict across the world when there is conflict just across the fence," said Kathrein, who was born in Marin County. "Before you get to changing the world, you have to start with your family and community."

Kennedy, which has 861 students, is in the heart of one of Richmond's toughest neighborhoods. Children who grow up there learn the realities of death at young ages. As teenagers, they attend more funerals than graduations.

Royce Hughes, a junior at Kennedy, is a quarterback on the football team and one of the school's 16 conflict mediators. He said he worries about gunfire just walking to the grocery store.

As a kid, he played kickball with friends at a street corner near his home. Now he avoids the corner because of its reputation as a hotspot for crime, and he's stopped hanging out with most of those friends.

"They've been shot or they went to jail. I'm the only one that hasn't," Royce said. "I just told myself, I have to get away from these people and find some new friends."

E-mail Simone Sebastian at sisebastian@sfchronicle.com.

A Message From MASK

Tazer friend Charlene Harris sent something that everyone should take a moment to read over in regard to the great work that the MASK organizaton does:

M.A.S.K. has established a service delivery plan for all families seeking it's assistance. We provide referrals, advocacy and support. We promote the healing of all victims of crimes and provide one on one emotional support as well as peer-to peer support. We are in motion to start our support groups at a new location.

M.A.S.K. has outreached to over (100) families primarily here in our city. We also provide services to others in surrounding Bay Area Cities as well as other towns and cities throughout the State. We will continue doing our parts promoting the healing and helping families find their way to their own healing zones! They start this by having a "Willing Spirit" for change and want to become heal. Sixty families have developed willing spirits. They don't want any retaliation only justice for the murders of their love ones.

Violence is a public health community problem, where everyone will have to join in to help decease it. The local governments has to their parts to help by reconstructing the poverty levels, lack of unemployment, affordable housing here in our cities.

The ATF, FBI, Secret Intelligence has to do their jobs of enforcing the drug and weapons flows into our communities. Remember the grassroots populations didn't dump the drugs and weapons here back in the Eighties. Everyone got tricked they didn't have a clue it would cause all this past and current devastation and destruction.

Schools are stepping up to the plate and hopefully will combat the problems of habitual truants. Hopefully the health departments will offer youth, young men and women drug rehab centers for youth right in their own neighborhoods whether they be on medical or not hopefully they will offer grief/trauma counseling to traumatize young people without a price tag attached.


Families should be encouraged to do their parts by supporting the service plan of M.A.S.K. Theme "No More Retaliations" after the death of a love one or friend. Churches should have a plan for Victim of Crimes and Ministers and Pastors should speak to the families about not committing acts of vengeance, also they should have the Eulogies preached on "No More Retaliations" Aftercare and support should be administered by extended family members especially the youth, young men and women.

Grandparents who have always been the gatekeepers would be valuable assets of delivering these messages. If we want to decrease the number of homicides in our communities this is where it starts. Inside the victims homes. Only then can we start reversing the cycle! So don't blame the Mayor, City Council members or anyone else! I'm just keeping it real! We feel the new Chief Magus has a good plan to help combat crime. Mayor Anderson at the M.A.S.K. "NO MORE RETALIATIONS" event acknowledged all Survivors and we feel it's not all on her it's the whole community as well. We must somehow find ways to move on developing a concenus to promote peace and healing in our communities. Everyone has a part to do. M.A.S.K. is doing its part, and doing it well. We are waiting on everyone else to start doing there parts.


A lot of the homicides are retaliatory or victim/witness related. Of course you have the blatant senseless ones as well. The former mentioned above takes precedence over all others. Many are most likely committed by minors under the influence of the drugs like (E) Ecstasy combined with alcohol and who knows what else.


Adults will have to stop contributing to the delinquency of minors and stop supplying them with a place to live or be while they should be in school or at home. Parents and guardian should be held accountable. Adults should stop doing drug with minors, and should stop letting minors them do drugs in their homes, they should stop supplying minors with access to weapons or drugs to sell.

Reality Check:

We should all be realistic there are no one components that will stop the violent crime problems. It took over twenty- five -years for us to get to this point. It will most likely take half that time to reconstruct and produce suitable, sustainable neighborhoods, communities and families.

M.A.S.K./Founder
Charlene Harris
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Thank you Charlene for all of your hard work with MASK!