Anti-violence work makes impact

Sometimes, no news is good news.

The fact that this year’s Juneteenth festivities, Native Omaha Days and Septemberfest — all major Omaha events involving large crowds of people — came off without significant problems was cited Friday as evidence that community groups and law enforcement are having success at preventing conflict among youths.

Those who testified at a hearing of the Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee acknowledged that much more needs to be done to make all Omahans feel safe. But they also noted the city’s falling rates of aggravated assaults and homicides; the unprecedented level of cooperation between the Omaha Police Department and community groups; and the State of Nebraska’s commitment to funding crime prevention and intervention efforts.

Without the cooperation and collaboration of the groups represented at Friday’s hearing, held in Omaha’s City-County Building, “you would see a greater amount of violence in the city,” said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine. Their work, he said, “has had an impact.”

Officials hope to expand that work through the new State Office of Violence Prevention, created in May when Gov. Dave Heineman signed a comprehensive anti-crime bill, LB 63. The office already has allotted $350,000 to crime-prevention efforts; $290,000 of that will go to Omaha entities, including the Urban League of Nebraska, the Police Department and the Boys and Girls Club.

Acting Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes, who noted the declines in the city’s aggravated assault and homicide rates, said the violence level in the city remains too high.

“We’re at least trending in the right direction,” he said.

Two to three years ago, Hayes said, “particularly in northeast Omaha, there was a group of people that got together from the community, basically saying, ‘We’ve had enough; we have to do something about this. We want to collaborate. We’re gonna get out, we’re gonna do something about it.’ That’s truly, I believe, what has made the biggest difference in those numbers going down.”

Hayes urged state senators on the committee to push for more funding for the community groups “so we can get more people involved in the process.”

Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray, who serves as the emergency team director of Impact One, a street-outreach group, said the collaborative efforts have included members of the clergy, government officials, law enforcement, juvenile assessment and other groups. Representatives meet every Wednesday, he said, to discuss the events of the previous week and identify what the group can do to help.

The efforts already in place are “humbling” to Mike Friend, who has served as executive director of the Office of Violence Prevention since mid-August. The state, he said, is committed to assisting the groups and providing lawmakers with solid evidence that the money spent on intervention and prevention is being spent wisely.

LaDonna Gaines, the aunt of 20-year-old Justin Gaines, who was shot to death last month in north Omaha, spoke at the hearing. Afterward, she said people who have survived gangs and moved on should help the groups reach out to at-risk youths.

“You have to start somewhere,” she said.

Contact the writer:

444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com

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