CLEVELAND — The violent beating of a 34-year-old man at a Cleveland gas station on July 25 has neighborhood groups wondering how they can play a role in reducing growing violence citywide.
The attack, caught on surveillance video, resulted in dozens of shots being fired and the arrest of 12 teens who were allegedly involved in the incident.
The East 130 Street Working Group held a Thursday meeting, gathering homeowners, community leaders and business owners in an effort to find a comprehensive plan to slow the violence.
Working group leader and former Cleveland City Council President Jay Westbrook led the meeting and told News 5 that a big part of the plan is direct outreach to the families of the teens involved in the growing violence.
“Those kids that are on the news today they have moms and dads," Westbrook said. “These people have to be called on to take responsibility, to step in. These kids weren’t manufactured to be street thugs.”
Westbrook said police enforcement is far from a complete answer to the growing problem; he believes it will take entire communities working together to create a permanent solution.
The group is also hoping for greater police patrols by addressing the ongoing city police officer shortage and stepped-up health and building code enforcement to reduce havens that attract criminal activity.
“This is a community breakdown, an attack on people who pull up to get gas for their cars," Westbrook said. “We’re going to show them an organized community that, of course, has care and compassion but is committed to keeping people in the community and building up the community, not tearing it down.”
Group leaders like Rob Render believe if neighborhood groups don't take action, the violence problem will only get worse.
“If we don’t address this downward spiral of violence going on in our community, and it’s a national problem, particularly in the African America community, we don’t have a future; our neighborhoods are going to implode," Render said. "That means you’re going to lose population, that means you’re going to lose business, you’re going to lose income.”
Render said he hopes the group will have a plan in place this coming fall.
“How can we come up with a comprehensive strategy, one to deal with safety, to stabilize the businesses, we don’t want homeowners to leave, that was expressed today,” Render said.
RELATED: Cleveland Police arrest 12 teenagers for 'brutal attack' on 34-year-old man at gas station
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