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Show ~The West View Page3 ays continued from page tage. Tom and his family have for two years, but Tom has lived all of his 47 years in- west side neighborhoods. In addition to his 18-. a has also he son, old year seven-year-old boy. - Tom says Glendale is much other neighborhoods. like Catholic a then He Temple - feels safe and | ek. thinks — there «Deen... has improvement in terms. because of the lack of side- of” crime over the W@lks.” drunk nights when “The schools showing are full of off how tough Jon. Living in a converted iS church. every bit as visit the’ clubs on 200 South. as a. - street means a safer area, even if they are partying pe on a Saturday night. How safe do the Robinson’s children feel? Shawney calls their son and daughter and a couple of their friends. The kids’ sense of their neighbor- and halls, soft and changing light, stone steps leading grand_ly to the front door flanked by the two ells of the building’s — wings. Thinking that it is still a sometimes church, _ people kids partiers For Jon, more people on the could "OMS | they hood mirrors that of the adults. They walk without concern to The Gateway, two to three -blocks away. Their daughter, however, volunteers that she - sees people who dress strangely — and that makes her feel uneasy. Shawney laughs because the -kids have been trying on clown - assistance. son answers my ques‘to while away their wigs Jon has lived in this house for tions in a-voice so low, I strain Sunday afternoon. eleven years. Before that he to hear him. He has been shot in. -None of the kids have been lived several years in Rose a drive-by shooting, taking nine threatened by gangs. They Park. He grew up in Bountiful, bullets. He admits he is in a know. there is tagging in the which he loved as a child, but gang and that he has no plans to neighborhood and that drugs he and his family prefer the get out of gang life. Like my are bought and sold. Jon, howexcitement of an urban neighown 18-year-old son, he has ever, can’t think of any known. borhood in revival. The dropped out of school. Like my drug house in the area. Since Gateway is within walking disson, he ts looking unsuccessful- ate:> -Tom’s 7 ly for work and the independence he thinks it would bring. knock on the door requesting tance. CitiFront, a complex of townhouses on North Temple, will soon be ready for occupan- Tom Jimenez listens to our conversation. He does not like “cy. ‘It will mix retail and living space for families from a wide his son’s choice of friends. “They party or fight all night,.. variety of economic and ethnic backgrounds. showing off how tough they are, then they sleep all day and. let mom and dad them.” There take care of is anger and worry in his voice. He would like for his son to go back to school, just as I wish would. - Despite -between the father and my for Weed and son differences son, both ‘are proud of their West Side The Robinsons send their two children, a 12-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, to Washington Elementary. The neighborhood school is Jackson Elementary. Shawney says that she understands that Jackson is also. a good school, with the principal, teachers and parents working to establish rules of conduct to assure that the history. “This is a good neighfor its safe | school is a safe pees borhood,” says Tom, except for teenagers with no - jobs and too much to prove to. ‘students. “T feel safe salen this and homicide rates are also much Seed, a rerevally. higher in most years, although in kind of nights when trendy maze of large he yisit the clubs on 200 South. says, “or else. in they’re prison or dead.” When I ask neighborhood the about schools, his mood darkens: the the neighborhood was plagued Brace of bet and drunk drivers on weekend aL Aone trendy partiers is many._years. imagine weekend a “Prostitution for church one | drivers troublemakers and 600, magical bottles and broken got older and wiser,” worrles Pee “The: years: She also about several past unsafe. more - feel say _ funded program which brings: together law enforcement and crime we see here. It is an neighborhood residents to annoyance, but it isn’t the kind Jon and Shawney Robinson of crime that makes me feel “weed” out crime and “seed” in live in possibly the most unusual home in Salt Lake City. unsafe.” Shawney counters, the elements that create unique and healthy communities. The Originally a church building, it “Except for the element who Weed and Seed area in Salt is located in the Guadalupe come into the neighborhood neighborhood, adjacent to a because of prostitution. But I Lake City is the entire West neighborhoods Side, except feel more unsafe because of the plasma center on North Temple 600 of north She also and 600 West. In the beginning, lack of. sidewalks.” — and North worries about broken bottles it was an LDS Stake house, feels At North West: River and Gleadale Park aid look like they are 1970s vin- lived in this home neighborhood,” each other, f:. some years the rate for homicide has been significantly less than for the city at large. The rate of family disputes is approximately 50% to 80% higher than for the rest hood and, the kids enjoy their uncon-. ventional house in a Vv 1b rant neighborhood. These have er blue sweatshirt. Police crime from 1996 to 2002 for the Weed Seed area. wher C So, all offenses grouped together are very similar throughout the -as young as 12 and 13. Drugrelated charges are not consid- ered to be violent crimes but are — month per 1,000 residents. These rates have declined since often a secondary charge indicating that drug usage is involved i in many other crimes. The hopeful news is that the 1996 from twelve rates of eleven arrests each to month per 1,000 residents. The rate for the Weed and Seed somewhat area in 2002 lower than for is Salt Lake City as a whole. So why says Tom, is there a sense of “safe except other.” much the higher rates crimes on the seven arrests in 2002. area, actual who might be most at risk - in = and arrests. Arrests involving weapons in custody disputes),. | — though Weed fraction of total (including violent even crime in the the Weed and Seed area are almost twice the rate of the rest hoods are safe places to raise | of Salt Lake City. Aggravated assault charges, kidnappings families? | Coordinator for West Side has declined since 1996, although there has been a rise in such crimes as family disputes and illegal possession — and/or use of weapons. For ~weapons- charges" there~ were fifty-five arrests in 2000, seventy arrests in 2001 and ninety- Seed violent for in small rate I tell Jacob Brace about the stories I-have heard of children and teenagers who have been shot at or caught in gun crossfire. I ask him his opinion about numbers these arrests are only a is : on mation youth city; nine to 10 arrests each prove that West Side neighbor- Jacob: Brace ae ee provide infor-. were under the age of 26, a few and homicide. Crime rates for. = candid statis- The age what 3 a enjoying life?” for are are groups of range... involvedcrimes, from violent crimes. However, ageminor to violent: vandalism, family disputes, commercial | related data is available for drug burglaries, _ weapons offenses on the West Side- in sex, 2002. One third of those arrested charges, drug- -related offenses, for teenagers with no jobs and too much to prove to each been a being of instead ‘The statistics the West Side. kids where a gang to eeerepresent See Choose and hoods than on begin we do crime combating neighbor- . - statistics ey remarks from local residents, but is there hard evidence to gery are higher in other not feel safe. She tugged on Salt Lake City City Lake City. burglaries, Road. Brace streets and asked why she did provided Salt. “This . a good neighborhood, Lake that he canin walk danger among some neighborfew years ago, this is a dramat“ie difference. Jon and Shawney: “hood: residents?” The answer. might lie in } = — their— love neighbor- Salt safely anywhere on west side fraud, and for- Redwood with crime and drug traffic a Guadalupe of Interestingly, rates for drug offenses are very similar for the entire — city, while rates for addition to youth, are race and poverty factors? Brace replies, “I look at police stats (for Salt Lake City) and to me, they are not alarming. Of course, I’m _ used to big East Coast cities. However, when you talk to res- idents and youth, they begin painting a oe that the numbers do not.” He recalls his recent conversation with a 14-year-old girl at the Sorenson Center who had been ‘bad’ in detention things.” “for doing There were streets she said she could not walk along in safety. Brace feels that he can walk safely anywhere on west side streets and asked why she did not feel safe. She tugged on her blue sweatshirt. “So, where do we begin combating crime where kids choose to represent a gang instead of being a youth enjoying life? The numbers say one thing, the people say another,”’he said. Overall, west side residents value their neighborhoods, but interviews with some teenagers reveal a different perspective on how safe our neighborhoods are. What can we do as adults to create a sense of safety for our youth and their families? @ | |