Posted on Fri, Aug. 04, 2006

Evans: Ending violence takes time

His basic message: Only urgent effort lasting years will work

By DAVE DAVIES
daviesd@phillynews.com 215-854-2595

Standing in the Point Breeze Performing Arts Center in South Philadelphia yesterday, State Rep. Dwight Evans met Abdul Brown, 9, and Michelle Williams, 17. Both lost siblings to gun violence within the last two months.

At the nearby Dixon House community center, teenagers said they knew where to buy a 9 mm automatic pistol for as little as $100. And at a neighborhood senior center, Florence Cataldi described being knocked flat for her purse by a thug as she walked home from a card game.

For Evans, it was another day in a long journey - his campaign to build a movement against gun violence.

Although Evans talks about specific measures, from gun laws to mentoring programs, his basic message is simpler: To succeed, the effort to stop violence must be urgent and sustained, lasting for years.

"If you look at New York City, you'll see their murder rate is what it was in the '60s because they've been working on it for a long time," Evans said.

"Mayor David Dinkins hired 14,000 more police, and (Mayor Rudolph) Giuliani took an aggressive approach to crime," he said. "We have to stay with this. We can't start and stop."

Evans, a likely candidate for mayor next year, made five stops in South Philadelphia yesterday with fellow State Reps. Harold James and Jewell Williams at community centers and police districts.

The point, he said, was mostly to listen and learn. He found everyone angry about crime, but with different perspectives on what to do about it.

At the South Philadelphia Senior Center on Passyunk Avenue near 10th, the largely white audience complained they felt abandoned by the police. "The police don't do their jobs," said Tony Pepe, his finger waving in anger. "These kids are on the street all hours of the night, and they don't challenge them, they don't enforce curfew. I call police radio to complain, they hassle me."

Several residents said there aren't enough cops on the street.

At the Point Breeze arts center, many questions from the predominantly black crowd focused on a perceived decline in services, particularly recreation programs.

"Those programs have deteriorated," Evans acknowledged, adding that the fight against violence might require the city to reconsider its commitment to annual business and wage tax cuts, now a decade old.

"I think it's time for the city to have that debate," Evans said.

Throughout the day, people talked about guns - how many youths have them, how easy they are to get.

Evans and the other two lawmakers described their frustration at pursuing gun laws in Harrisburg, but Evans said he has a debate scheduled in the Pennsylvania House on Sept. 26 to address proposals to deal with crime and violence.

Evans talked frequently about his "Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia," a strategy to reduce violence through community work, mentoring programs and coordinated media efforts.

"I'm extremely optimistic we can beat this problem, but it's going to take some time and energy," Evans said. "A big part of my message to you is 'don't give up.' "

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