City Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said Wednesday the Violence Reduction Initiative is not working.
He said in a letter to the council that he will no longer support it.
The letter said:
As a lifelong resident of Chattanooga and your colleague, I need to share with you my thoughts on crime and safety in the City of Chattanooga.
I believe a number of citizens feel the same way. I am horrified by the tragedy this weekend on East 13
th Street, where a double murder took place and the heart-wrenching composure of the five-year old who called 911. I am concerned about the possible psychological trauma this child may encounter during his life as a result of losing his parents. For me, this act of violence was the last straw in supporting a failed program. Mayor Berke’s Violence Reduction Initiative has failed in Chattanooga. A couple of questions we have to ask ourselves:
- Three years into Mayor Berke’s Violence Reduction Initiative, do you or your constituents feel safer from crime and violence?
- With millions of dollars already invested in Mayor Berke’s Violence Reduction Initiative, could those dollars be better invested directly into local law enforcement?
With anemic, sub-par results from Mayor Berke’s Violence Reduction Initiative, I am asking that we consider another way of battling crime and safety issues. As we start our current budget review process, I cannot support the Violence Reduction Initiative any longer. If this is a concern, let us communicate with each other in a transparent and open way, hopefully in a future Strategic Planning meeting. Let us find a better route to reducing crime so that citizens would feel and be safer in the City of Chattanooga.ng crime so that citizens would feel and be safer in the City of Chattanooga.
Councilman Yusuf Hakeem