When a north Omaha violence intervention and prevention task force began weekly meetings in October 2008, seven to 10 people attended regularly. Two of those regulars were Omaha police officers.
The hourlong sessions now draw about 70 people. And the Empowerment Network, which created the task force, plans a citywide effort, Omaha 360.
The first task force meetings were held in a boardroom at the Lake Point Building at 24th and Lake Streets. The group then moved to a multipurpose room in the building and now meets in an auditorium on the Omaha Home for Boys campus at 52nd Street and Ames Avenue.
Police officials still attend, but so do concerned citizens and representatives from several social service organizations, churches, mentoring groups, the Mayor's Office, the Omaha Fire Department, the State Office of Violence Prevention, the Douglas County Juvenile Assessment Center, the Omaha Public Schools, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Creighton University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center, among others.
It's tough to say, “Nobody's doing anything to stop the violence,” when you see so many people trying to solve problems. And it's hard to imagine many other similar-size gatherings that are as successful at staying on task.
At the meetings, participants review violent activity that occurred in the area during the past week and talk about the police response, prayer walks and other efforts that were made to address the violence. Participants also announce upcoming, proactive events that focus on the group's goals of providing youths with positive alternatives to violence and reducing gang-related homicides, gun and youth violence, and gang involvement.
As part of Omaha 360, a group similar to the one in north Omaha has formed in south Omaha and another is planned for west Omaha.
“This has to be a citywide effort,” said Willie Barney, the president and facilitator of the Empowerment Network. “There are pockets of poverty, pockets of crime, pockets of unemployment in various parts of the city.”
Mayor Jim Suttle, City Councilman Ben Gray, Police Chief Alex Hayes and others are set to join Barney for Wednesday's Omaha 360 announcement of Harmony Week events May 21 through May 29.
Hayes, who was the captain of the northeast precinct when he attended those first north Omaha meetings in 2008, still makes it to most of the sessions.
The task force “brings a lot of different players to the table and allows them to see where they plug into the system,” Hayes said. “It allows for that kind of coordination to occur.
“The other thing it does from the police perspective is it lets people know we're part of the process also and we have something to contribute.”
The Empowerment Network also has launched Impact One, a street-level gang-intervention group whose members go to homicide scenes and hospital emergency rooms in an effort to prevent retaliatory violence and assist the families and friends of shooting victims.
The network and Impact One, now a separate entity, worked together last summer to secure jobs for at-risk youths. Impact One, the Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership and the Urban League of Nebraska, all network members, will continue separate efforts to provide jobs for youths this summer.
The network also is working on an alliance of neighborhood associations, a housing initiative, an education initiative and economic development efforts.
“There's a lot going on,” Barney said. “We have more and more partners stepping up and taking on various roles.”
One of the network's more visible efforts is Harmony Week.
Contact the writer:
444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com
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