- [Narrator] Live from the Carver Community Center in Peoria.

This is "United for Peace: Searching for solutions."

(bright gentle music) - Violence in Peoria over the past two years has resulted in almost 60 people losing their lives prematurely, often at the hands of another.

- And that's 60 people too many and dozens of others responsible for those crimes.

- And it's something each of us have covered for the last several years.

- We've talked to the friends and the families left behind.

- And we've told the stories that different communities coming to terms with those deaths.

- And that's why we're coming together at the Carver Community Center, united for change and searching for solutions.

- 2020 closed out with far too many people dying to violence prematurely.

Lizzie Siles talks to us now to dive deep into those numbers.

- [Lizzie] 2022 data for shooting crimes in Peoria seems to offer good news.

The number of homicides are down more than 25% compared to 2021.

Gunshot victims and documented shots fired are also down by at least a quarter.

Yes, 2022 gun violence is lower, but that's compared to the historical high amount of gun violence in 2021.

When you zoom out, 2022 still rates high, especially for gun-related homicide.

- While we saw a decrease, we're actually still the fourth highest on record.

It's great to see that we're on that trend, but it's important to keep that still in the conversation.

- [Lizzie] Jacob Moushon crunches crime data for Peoria, the numbers, direct police resources, and patrols.

He sees a concerning trend.

Moushon says more and more of Peoria's gun victims are kids and teens.

Juveniles typically start out with smaller crimes like stealing and vandalism and work their way up to bigger crimes over time.

- And that increase is now shrinking, which means that they're becoming more violent, quicker.

- [Lizzie] Causes are hard to nail down but Peoria police say they're focusing on two ways of reducing crime.

First, they're trying to build trust with communities, offering anonymous tips and increasing police presence in high crime areas.

- We can have all the technology and we can have the best officers in the city, but the people on the street living in the neighborhoods, they're the one that actually really knows what's going on.

- [Lizzie] They're also looking to address some of the root causes of crime, like poverty and education.

But that's the line where policing ends and community action begins.

Emily Green studies how victims are treated and supported after a violent crime statewide.

She looked at a Chicago-based program that provides on the scene crisis response, similar to Peoria's Community Against Violence initiatives.

Her study found the need for support after gun violence starts, not only with the victims, but also extends to the community.

- And it wouldn't be just immediate family, but friends, cousins, others in the community who are affected.

And we're really interested in these services as well.

There really is this community impact when a homicide occurs.

- [Lizzie] Her research recommends police and crisis response groups work together on scene.

It may even lead to better relationships with law enforcement in the community.

- But there's an opportunity there for the police to show that, you know, we are trying to really work with you all.

They kind of have conflicting goals, and of course they want to be there for the victim's family, but they have, of course, their own things that they need to accomplish as well while they're at that crime scene.

- [Lizzie] Moushan's analysis points squarely at gun violence being the largest part of Peoria's homicides.

Now what's the answer to reducing or eliminating the shooting and killing?

Those are solutions we're exploring over the next hour in "United for Peace: Searching for Solutions."

I'm Lizzie Siles.

(no audio) - Joining us for our first panel tonight is Ken Godbolt, who is a youth life coordinator or youth life coach and community outreach coordinator for Peoria Community Against Violence.

Welcome.

- Thank you, man.

- You heard in this report that nowadays it seems that youthful offenders are ramping up more quickly in terms of violence.

In other words, it's not like the older days where it took a while, they're getting more violent more quickly.

How does that affect you in terms of how you approach outreach with these kids?

- So one of the things that I like to do is, it's so easy for us to focus on the behavior.

I like to focus on the why.

A kid doesn't wake up in the morning and say, "I wanna steal cars, I want to join gangs, I want to fight."

There's a reason why.

And so I have to dig into that.

And part of that, what I found is the trauma, the mental health, the battles that they face on a day-to-day basis.

And so what I do is in my coaching and in my one-on-one coaching with the kids, I deal with the why.

And once we deal with the why, then we also see the behavior change.

I can't expect behavior to change unless I give them an opportunity to heal from whatever wounds are causing that behavior.

And the reason why you see the rampant increase of violence is because for years and years and years, they come from families that have the same trauma, same background.

And so they are into social media now, they're into all of the game systems.

And so because they're into all of those things that does not give them an outlet to heal, then that's why you see so many shootings and the gang violence amongst juveniles rise.

- And you said that, you know, there's this trauma that's ongoing and it's ingrained in their families.

And I'm gonna guess it's hard sometimes for these kids to accept outsiders like yourself when you enter these situations to talk about the things that bother them so you can get to those root causes.

How do you establish the trust with someone like that?

- So the one thing that I have is I have the same story as a lot of these kids that I get to reach.

So I come from a background.

My mom was addicted to drugs, my dad was an alcoholic.

I grew up around gangs.

And so I had someone come in my life and give me an opportunity to change.

Being an African American man, when I began to talk about trauma and I began to talk about mental health, they're not used to seeing somebody like them actually have those conversations.

And so actually it gives me more of an opportunity to speak into their life.

- And when you're in those situations and there are the adults, is there sometimes pushback from them because this is kind of a new thing, right?

They might not have had that sort of intervention.

Do you have a trouble with that sort of scenario?

- Oh yeah, absolutely.

Because we grow up in a culture to where they tell us to keep silent, not to talk.

And so we go through our entire lives carrying all this garbage, all this trauma, all of this luggage throughout our lives.

And we have so much pain inside of us.

And so when I'm dealing with a kid, I also know that mom or dad has trauma, has pain as well.

And so I like to focus on the entire family because if mom and dad heal, it's easier for a kid to heal in an environment that's already cultivating that healing atmosphere, so.

- And once you establish this trust, some of these kids, even if they've had some serious situations, they're receptive often, it turns out, huh?

- Oh, they're very receptive.

Because one thing that our generation is looking for and that I love about this generation is they are looking for people to actually believe in them.

Someone to be able to walk through their lives and walk through this process with them.

And I get an opportunity to do that.

And so when I start working with a kid, I'm not expecting to see success that same day.

Everybody wants to see a reward.

That reward, we may not see it that day, but longevity and the more we work with that kid, we get an opportunity to be able to see that.

So I've seen amazing success with the kids and parents that I work with daily.

- And what is the biggest challenge among this whole situation that you step into?

Is there one big factor with the trauma, or?

- Yeah, we have to give them places and outlets to actually be able to talk about them.

We have to make this conversation of trauma normal.

We have to make this a topic that we talk about daily, not just when something happens.

And once we do that, then I think we'll see more change in the lives of our juveniles.

- Because there's hope.

- Oh man, there's hope.

And I see it every day.

- That's wonderful.

- One of the things I can say is I got an opportunity to speak at Manual probably a week ago, and amazing things, what those teachers are doing there.

- That's wonderful.

Ken Godbolt, thanks for joining us.

Let's go to Shelbey.

- All right, Phil, thank you.

The impact of violence echoes far beyond just shooter and victim.

Our own Phil Luciano talks with a young Peoria boy who witnessed the murder of his godmother and now struggles with that loss.

- [Phil] Aarion Williams has a wish, not for a pony, not for a video game, not for any of the countless play things a typical six-year-old might want.

He simply wants Peoria to put down the guns.

- They shouldn't be killing people.

- [Phil] Aarion is one of an uncountable number of Peorians impacted by violence and trauma.

On his front porch, his godmother was gunned down before his very eyes.

He now is involved with Dream Center Peoria, which offers youth programs and alternatives to street life.

There, Jojo Winter sees firsthand how violence and trauma plague not just gangs or certain areas of town, but the entire community.

- It's just a whole bunch of mess.

Like, it's a revolving circle that needs to be, you know, broken.

You know, everybody needs to step up and help out, you know, because it will affect everybody, anybody.

It's gonna affect somebody on Southend.

It will affect somebody living all the way out by Dunlap area.

- [Phil] Living amid trauma, the daily gunshots, sirens, and bloodshed warps people's mindsets, especially in childhood.

- It becomes a new norm.

You know what I'm saying?

So like they grow up thinking, "If I get in a fight, I gotta bring a weapon."

- [Phil] Further, social media makes these shared experiences as well as violent reactions seem normal and expected.

- They gonna be desensitized to a lot of stuff.

So it won't be nothing for, if little Johnny smack Marquis at 11:12, Marquis know where his big brother gun, now he gonna run and go get his gun.

- [Phil] In Aarion's house, life was mostly peaceful.

His godmother lived with his family.

They were close.

- We played games together, we went to the mall, me and her.

Yeah, a lot of stuff.

- [Phil] One night last year, his godmother was visited by a female friend.

- It was just a normal day.

- [Phil] An argument ensued.

The woman went away briefly, then returned with a gun.

One squeeze of the trigger later, Aarion's godmother laid bleeding on the porch.

He wrapped his tiny arms around her until an ambulance arrived, but she died later at a hospital.

- And then I woke up at the police station the next morning.

- [Phil] Arian suffers nightmares and PTSD and he misses his godmother badly.

- Say somebody kills one of your family members that you really love, and then you just think about it.

Why do these people have guns?

Don't you just wish guns would never exist?

(no audio) - Things that six-year-old Aarion Williams has experienced, no one should ever have to go through, but there are people working in our community right now in order to make sure that that cycle of violence ends.

Joining us right now, we have Chris Johnson from Gentleman of Distinction Mentor Program, and we're also joined by Carl Holloway, the executive director of MAY I Community Outreach.

We appreciate you both being here.

We know that you're a part of different organizations, but you're both working to build community and mentorship, particularly with young people.

Carl, for you, what kind of interactions as a part of your organization do you have with the young people that you're working with?

And what's the impact that you actually see with that?

- Well, I'm glad you asked and thanks for allowing us the moment to speak.

Next month will be our fifth year.

We have MAY I which is Motivating Adults and Youth Individually.

And what we're doing, we're interacting with males between the ages of eight and 17, twice a week here at Carver Center.

We have a community partnership with Carver Center under an ICJIA grant.

So it allows us to interact with youth, meet them where they are, get to the root of what the problem is.

I'm noticing a lot of our young people have a hard time discerning between conflict resolution and how to resolve it.

So what we do is we find out what the problem is, work on different skills that are productive, and find positive ways to come up with the outcomes.

Just a week or two ago, I had two that were on the basketball court and they couldn't seem to get along.

So what we did was we took a break for a moment, got the gloves out, we got a pair of gloves, and I let 'em, you know, kind of slug it out for about 30 seconds.

They were both tired, decided they wanted to hug, give the dap and get back on the basketball court.

And so that was something that stopped right then and there.

And then you have other situations that don't get resolved and then the police get involved, you know.

- But it's important to see that there are alternatives in order to make that happen.

Chris, we know Gentlemen of Distinction obviously targets young men, working with young men in our community.

Why is that a demographic of people that you specifically wanted to work alongside to mentor?

- Oh, simple.

For me, I come from Peoria, Illinois and all I did or I wanted to do was just to give back the way people gave back to me.

You know, I was very fortunate to have some very prominent people in the community who took time out of their lives and come back to make sure I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.

Kept me on the straight and narrow with five older brothers.

And so that helped all their friends, made sure that I did the things I needed to do and stuck to the course that I was supposed to be following somewhat.

I made some mistakes, but again, I had that support.

So that's all I'm doing now, is getting back with the young guys.

My program actually started out Manual High School when I was an officer for the school district under Dr. Korot.

And just took that time and just, I wanted to do something different with these young men while I had that platform.

So Gentleman of Distinction started there and just challenging the guys to be different.

We don't have to follow suit, you don't have to be like everyone else.

I mean, after a point, I really don't even look at it as a mentoring program anymore, we're family.

You know, I spend time with them.

We went to dinner tonight just to chop it up and find out what's going on in their lives.

Just to be a ear sometimes, you know.

- Well, you bring up an interesting point.

You both are very involved in their lives and in some cases, filling a void that maybe parents should be.

How much responsibility do you feel that parents should have in just making sure their kids are behaving properly?

- Well, that's huge.

I mean, parenting, I'm a parent myself and it's ongoing, you know, but it's good.

Like I said previously, it's just good to be able to be there and have that ear when they do come across these challenges they have because life is very challenging for teenagers, especially today.

And so that's all I do.

And I work tight with the parents.

If mom says "No," that's no.

If we have an event that we're gonna go to, whether it be a college visit or we're just gonna go out to dinner and hang out, if mom says he ain't going, he ain't going.

'Cause I work that closely with the parents.

- Some really good conversations that we will continue to have.

Lastly, where can people go to volunteer or even enroll their children in your respective programs?

- Well, MAY I has a website.

It's www.mayicommunityoutreach.com.

And any males or any females that want to get involved with helping as a volunteer or want to provide some support, even come in and speak with our youth.

- And briefly, Chris, for you?

- For me, my guys recruit for me.

They enjoy what we do.

And so they'll call me and say, "Chris, I got a couple guys interest."

I say, "Bring 'em with-" - Gentlemen, thank you.

- So that's how we do it.

- We appreciate it.

Let's now go to Jenise Rebholz.

- Thank you.

- All right, thank you, Shelbey.

And behind each number on the homicide list is a person, a life taken too soon and left behind is their family to live with that grief.

Now Paige Blanzy spoke with families of victims on how they continue their lives after loss.

- They said, "Well, ma'am, I hate to tell you, your daughter's dead."

"No she's not," that's the first thing I said.

"No she isn't.

She's not dead."

- [Paige] It's been more than a year since Sherry Ross lost her daughter.

- Well, last year was the worst year of my life.

- [Paige] 35-year-old Bridget Ross was shot and killed on New Year's Day in 2022.

28-year-old Robert White is the accused killer.

He pleaded not guilty to first degree murder.

His jury trial scheduled for February.

Ross says each day is still a struggle.

- Every time I wake up, I'm waiting for a phone call.

Mom, what you doing?

- [Paige] Lorraine Washington is also waiting to see her goddaughter's accused killer appear in court.

- It was devastating.

I remember when they called, four o'clock in the morning.

- 21-year-old Mariah Moss was shot and killed in July.

Now, 24-year-old Kaitlyn Taylor is scheduled to go to trial for her first degree murder charge in April.

But coping with the grief hasn't gotten easier for Washington.

- [Lorraine] I miss her.

Sometimes I don't even like to talk about her 'cause I miss her that much.

- [Paige] Washington says her family is no stranger to gun violence.

She lost both her brothers in November after they were shot and killed in St. Louis.

- Gun violence sickens me.

I was shot when I was 17 in the face and I lived because God wasn't ready for me.

But guns are senseless.

- [Paige] And for Adrian Burnside, he usually doesn't show his emotions after the death of his 15-year-old son, Merion Smith.

- I feel like it was like last week.

It just, every day I wake up, I feel like it just happened.

Everything just remind me of him.

- 18-year-old Eric Jackson is accused of killing Smith.

He pleaded not guilty to first degree murder charges and is the only suspect in custody.

But police say evidence at the scene suggests that more people were involved.

Burnside is hoping for justice and closure.

- I just hope that we could still live life though and don't let greed get the best of us and keep our heads up and stay strong.

- [Paige] While these families may find justice in the court system, there are still others left without any answers.

And while gun violence totals were down across the river city for 2022, family history shows it's not over.

- If people stop just stop and think what you're doing to other people.

Would you want this done to you?

- Paige Blanzy reporting.

(no audio) - All right, that was Paige Blanzy with that report.

Now the criminal justice system is in place when these things happen to follow up, but it doesn't replace the lives lost.

Now, joining me right now, I have Dr. Bernice Gordon-Young, a psychotherapist and Aimee Shinall with the Peoria County Sheriff's Office that works with the victims and their family.

So I wanna jump right into it.

At least as far as watching these things happen.

I feel like we are seeing younger ages in victims and in suspects.

Where do you think this violence is starting?

Is this a watched behavior?

Learned behavior?

Where do you think this is coming from?

- I think it's a learned behavior, but I also think it is just the cycles and generations of untreated mental health.

I think there's substance abuse that plays a significant role in the decision-making of our youth as well as their parents and adults.

- How do you start that conversation with your kids?

When do you start that conversation about these things?

- Yesterday.

- Yesterday.

- Yeah, yeah.

- So you think this is something that you should start talking about as soon as they're talking?

- Yeah.

- How do you introduce that conversation?

- You know, particularly when we're talking about violence, right.

We have children who are now having drills for school shootings, right?

We grew up with, you know, tornado drills, you know, fire drill.

But that's part of their world.

And so I think it's very important that we have those conversations that, you know, to at least explain to them why these things are in place, you know?

- And we're gonna talk to Amy in just a moment about what happens after a tragedy happens.

But are there certain resources that maybe you recommend for parents that don't know how to start this conversation?

Any resources, maybe it's books, a podcast, anything like that?

- Yeah.

You know, I think we have to look at what's age appropriate, right?

You know, so for a five-year-old, you wouldn't give them knowledge that's going to scare them, right?

And so you wanna make that kid friendly and it depends on their developmental level as well.

But here's the piece that's most important.

What we don't teach them, the street will.

And that's important.

So if we don't talk to our kids, they're talking to other kids who are talking to other kids that are involved in these things.

- Yeah.

- And I think it's also important to know that it's not just the children.

- Absolutely.

And you work with families after a tragedy occurs.

Tell us what you do at the sheriff's office.

- So I am the victim services coordinator and I reach out with the victim at that first point of contact of trauma.

So we have many resources in the community area.

And one thing that I will do is I will follow that case to the complete end.

I will keep that relationship with the state's attorney's office, with the Peoria County Jail open so they know what's going on with that offender, with that court case.

I will help them with their crime victims compensation through the state of Illinois if they are eligible for any of that money I will also help them with pre-trial conferences, discussions with the state's attorneys.

Not everybody's in the criminal justice system a lot, and they don't know what the most common words are.

So I'm there to just navigate and help them answer those questions throughout the process.

- And Dr. Gordon Young mentioned a cycle.

What resources are there in place that maybe you refer victims' families to to break that cycle?

- There are so many resources in Peoria.

I use the Center for Prevention of Abuse a lot.

You know, I work with Bernice down in the jail a lot.

There are different resources, adult protective services, just to name a few.

If anybody has any questions, they can feel free to reach out to me.

I'm just a phone call away.

- Yeah, and Doctor, can you maybe touch on any misconceptions about violence in Peoria or just violence as a whole?

- Yeah.

You know, I'll tell you what I've realized working inside of the jail that when people often are committing these crimes, they're under the influence.

And so this is sometimes the only opportunity or an opportunity in a long time where they have been sober, right?

And having an opportunity to reflect on what they've done.

And quite often, they're seeking those services, right?

They're seeking mental health.

They're getting the treatment that they no longer or had stopped taking, you know, whether it's medication management or even seeking some type of assistance once they're out.

- All right.

Well ladies, thank you so much.

We're gonna keep this going.

We're gonna go toss it to Phil.

- A lot of people in Peoria think the relationship between police and the community is at an all time high or at least a lot better than most recent years.

Both sides have been working hard to establish better trust and communication.

But as Mark Welp reports, a looming investigation could hurt a lot of that progress.

- Peoria was a real, a community really, and had a real community feel and it's all changed.

- Peoria NAACP President Marvin Hightower says an economic downturn in the '80s changed the city, development in Peoria went to the North Side and with that, economic opportunities and more development.

Urban renewals stopped on the South Side and crime increased in the 601065 zip code.

And for years, police community relations have been strained.

Peoria police chief Eric Echevarria was hired in 2021 with the top task of reducing serious crime.

And secondly, rebuilding the community's trust in the police department.

- These are thank you letters that I get all year from the community.

- [Mark] He promised to hit the streets to hear from the people he protects from neighborhood walk and talks to attending community meetings and fundraisers to appearing on two radio shows every week, he is definitely visible.

- The challenge is to be consistent, continue to communicate, continue to be available.

We're all humans, right?

- [Mark] The chief describes Peoria police community relations as.

- I think the relationship is great.

- [Mark] Some who have lived in the Peoria area for a long time disagree, but they aren't blaming the chief.

- I will say it was fractured, especially when I first became president.

It was fractured, but now it's fragile, meaning there have been some strides made, but it's still a delicate situation.

- [Mark] Former Peoria County assistant state's attorney and NAACP member Susan O'Neil says trust has been the number one issue.

She says, we can't arrest our way to public safety.

And we need to look at how the local justice system treats young people and minorities.

- Dad's in jail, mom's there with the kids.

Now DCFS swoops in instead of offering mom kind of a help or services.

You know, if you feel like 69% of the foster kids and the people going to DOC are Black and you're only 19% of the population, why would that, you know, develop into trust?

- [Mark] O'Neill says unsolved murders and the officer involved shooting death of Eddie Russell Jr. in 2017 and other situations where officers were cleared of any wrongdoing hasn't helped relations, which brings us to an issue that could have a huge effect on police community relations and the progress made by Chief Echevarria.

(guns banging) - [Officer] Two shots fired, shots fired!

The October 2022 police involved shooting death of Samuel Richmond.

After allegedly pointing a gun at police, four officers shot and killed the 59-year-old.

The investigation is in the hands of Illinois State police.

They'll give their findings to the Peoria County state's attorney and she will determine if the shooting was justified.

- It's something that need to be transparency.

We want transparency, we want answers.

- We expect some clear actual facts.

Truth, you know, from both sides.

- [Mark] More facts and answers didn't come until two months after the shooting, when Peoria Police released body camera footage and the names of the officers involved.

While some community members wanted that information faster, Chief Echevarria defends his decision to release the information and to wait for weeks after the shooting to do so.

- And we weren't gonna do anything to hinder their investigation or compromise that investigation.

And the timing was appropriate when we put the information out.

(guns banging) - [Officer] No shots fired, no shots fired.

- [Mark] Hightower says the result of the investigation will play a big role in the future of police community relations.

But no matter the result, these community leaders are continuing to work towards the goal of a better Peoria.

And they say everyone needs to help.

- That's what I tell people.

Get involved, not just to be visibly seen, get involved behind the scenes.

That's the way a lot of the work gets done, is behind closed doors.

- It can't be solved by the police.

It can't be solved by the prosecutor.

It can't be solved by all the numerous social service agencies.

It all has to work together.

- If anybody else in the community feels like the relationship is not where it should be, we'll continue to do our part and we ask you to meet us halfway and let's continue the dialogue.

We'll continue to be transparent and we'll continue working at having a better relationship.

- [Mark] In Peoria, I'm Mark Welp.

(no audio) - Police and community relations will always involve a delicate balance.

Working on that in their own ways are the Peoria County Sheriff's Department and the Peoria City Police.

With us today, we have Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins and Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria.

Thank you for joining us today.

- Thank you.

- Chief, let's go to you first.

What's your biggest challenge to gaining the public trust?

- I really believe it's the negative perception that follows law enforcement nationally.

And I think you see that more strongly and historically in communities of color.

And that's really one of the biggest battles they just overcome.

- And when you talk to people in the community, is it more of a perception or is it a more of a, something they've seen or how does that work?

- I think it depends on who you're talking to.

Sometimes it's a perception, it's just something that's been generation to generation.

And there are people who have been victims of bad encounters with the police.

So it can go either way.

- Sheriff, you have certainly a different type of situation.

You often have a more rural territory to cover, but still, it's something you have to help foster better relations.

What are the challenges you see at the sheriff's office?

- Just being transparent, right?

We strive to be transparent.

People want answers.

We try to ask people to be patient for those answers when we have critical incidents.

But transparency's key for every police, doesn't matter.

Sheriff, chief, just being transparent with the public to earn their trust when critical incidents happen.

- What are some of the bigger challenges you've encountered since you've taken over as sheriff in that sort situation?

- I think we only have a few minutes, but you name it.

Staffing, working on that transparency.

People just want honest, professional police officers.

And I think we, both of us really, we wanna offer that.

And I think we're doing a good job.

We're both new in our roles.

I'm newer, but we have a great working relationship.

A lot of people don't know what the sheriff's office does all the time.

Right now, we just launched our reentry program.

So I think that's, we have 300 people that are in our jail right now.

Anybody that wants help, if it's substance abuse, if it's work skills, life skills, we wanna offer that to 'em because recidivism's a big deal, right?

So if that's part of crime prevention, if we can quit people, stop people from committing, re-offending, then we can cut down on crime in Peoria.

- So what do you need on your end from the community?

There's certainly a lot about police do this, police don't do that, but what do you need from the community to help that relationship?

- I think we need for them to give us the opportunity to show that we're here to work for them, that we're here to build that trust, that we're here to be legitimate.

And I think it's time.

I think there's been many years of distrust and I think it takes time to build their trust back.

So what I ask as the chief of the Peoria Police Department is give me that time and let us prove ourselves to you.

- How about you, sheriff?

What do you look for?

- Same thing, patience.

We're moving in the right direction.

It's not gonna be easy.

It's gonna take some time, but we have, like I say, we have a great working relationship.

We have a lot of key people in good places.

Peoria is great.

We have a lot of resources out in the community.

It's not just a police issue, like we say.

It's always, it's a community issue.

And I think we're moving in the right direction.

It's gonna take a little bit, but I think we're doing, we're gonna do well.

- And when you hire new officers, is this something that's worked on from the police academy on up or do you work at your departments or how is that to be better community members?

- Absolutely.

When we get new officers, I meet with them before they're sworn in and I let 'em know what I am looking for and what we need.

And we work for this community first and foremost, one.

Two is don't compromise who you are.

We have hired you for who you are and what you bring.

And don't change that.

Be you.

Be authentic.

Be your authentic self and treat people how you want your family to be treated.

- How about you, sheriff?

What do you?

- Same thing, just culture, right?

Right from the beginning.

Long as they know what they expect, what we expect from them, what the community expects, do it early.

Because when you teach 'em early, that goes on through their career and having good leadership.

- All right sheriff, chief, thanks for joining us tonight.

- Thank you.

- Jenise.

- All right, Phil, at the squeeze of a trigger lives end, families changed forever.

Now Phil Luciana spoke with young people about what that looks like and how they're trying to push forward and through the trauma and the chaos in this really eye-opening interview.

- [Phil] Aqasha Johnson got her love for dancing from her sister.

- Oh, we like to do dances together, make up a lot of dances, record ourselves, have fun, try new things.

- [Phil] That ended three years ago.

In a blast of random gunfire and an outdoor party, her 21-year-old sister was shot in the back, leaving her paraplegic.

Aqasha now helps her sister get around to the bathroom and other places.

But they can't dance like before.

Now, nine, Ki'yah Lowe was just three when her dad was shot to death.

She has a hard time remembering much about him.

- He liked basketball.

I forgot what else.

- [Phil] Thoughts of her dad leave her sad and confused.

- Frustrated.

Or mad.

(no audio) - [Phil] For Shawn Wilson, violence raged inside and outside his home for years.

- Now, I have all this anger built up and it's like, just not really know where I could release it.

You know what I'm saying?

- [Phil] The 15-year-old wants to succeed in life, however, he says, the anger drags him down in school and other aspects of life.

- I know where I come from and I know where I want to be and where I could be if I use that as like motivation or something.

But it's...

It just drags on for real.

So it's like, it's hard, you know.

- [Phil] Likewise, that sort of drag has hampered 16 year old Ryu Winters whose academics have suffered in the wake of repeated violence in his life.

- I could have probably did better.

I could have probably like, I don't know, it just like really hurt me.

- [Phil] In 2021, he suffered a double loss.

First his brother was murdered, followed weeks later by the killing of his cousin.

- Lose a loved one, it just kind of changes you.

It's like different after they're gone.

You won't ever be able to see them again.

- All four youths are among the many involved at Dream Center, Peoria, the faith-based social service agency that offers programs and alternatives to street life.

There, Jojo Winters has worked with kids and parents for a decade.

- I just sit down and they talk and I always pray like, all right, God, gimme the best thing to answer, what to say.

'Cause I don't want to come off too shallow, too harsh, anything of that nature.

- [Pink] Jojo himself got walloped by trauma twice.

Now 32, he is the older brother of Ryu Winters, thus Jojo also lost a brother and cousin to murder in 2021.

In fact, Jojo arrived at the scene of his brother's slaying.

- Seeing the body of a 19-year-old boy just laid out, blood coming out, eyes rolled back of the head.

It do something to your psyche.

It really do.

Like, your reality just changed within an instant, you know.

- [Phil] Amid such trauma, youth often engage in risky and violent behavior themselves because they figure they'll die early anyway.

- So they probably like, man, if I make it to 25, I'm okay and, or will I make it to 25?

So that's another thing that's in people heads, like it's like a death age under 30 that they don't think they gonna make it at.

So while they doing this stuff as a youth, that's why some of them might have fun and do all they wanna do now.

'Cause they thinking, I'm not seeing 23, 24 anyway.

(no audio) - All right, thank you, Phil.

And now joining me now I have council members, Denise Jackson, Andre Allen, and Ken Godbolt, who is a life coach.

And you've also worked with incarcerated juveniles.

And I wanna talk and get reaction to this last piece of this story.

This young person said they might not live to 22, 23 years old because of violence.

What's your reaction to that?

- Well, I've heard that before.

I heard it a couple years ago and when I was working summer school.

But, you know, I was a little surprised.

Young lady was just 14.

But what I have found, since I have transitioned into a second career, I'm now working in education at Peoria Public Schools.

Young people, for some reason or another, don't always have a lot of hope.

There's a lot of drama going on, a lot of drama.

And for many of them, Jenise, they have not been exposed to opportunities.

They have not been exposed to other cities.

One of the teachers, just before Christmas, we took the students up to the Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois.

And it was just interesting listening to some of them talking on the bus.

"Wow, I haven't been to Chicago."

Many of 'em haven't been outside of their community.

So I think sometimes when you have not had the opportunity to be exposed to different areas outside of your own neighborhood or city, then it's easy to develop that negativity.

And so we are trying to change that.

I intentionally live in my community on the South Side in the house that my parents bought because it's important for young people to see me, an educator, a former television reporter living in the same community that they live in.

And so they see me doing what I'm doing now, serving on the city council.

"Hey, Miss.

Jackson's doing that, I can do that."

I tell 'em, "You sure can.

You can do anything you wanna do."

- Yeah.

- So that's part of my mission.

People have poured into my life, so now is an opportunity for me to pour into the lives of young people.

So many of our young people, surprisingly, don't see themselves going to college.

I'm not sure where that comes from, but I've said, "Hey, you're smart enough."

So I told them, I tell them all the time, "If I did it, you can do it too."

So we're here to expose them to programs and opportunities.

- Yeah, example is everything.

And Andre, you have three young kids, so I'm sure this probably really resonates with you.

What's your reaction to this and how do you think you can give hope to those young people so they don't have such maybe a negative outlook on life like this?

- Well, first off, thank you, Jenise and thank you to our various media partners and the legendary Carver Center for hosting this panel discussion today.

As a native of Peoria, as a husband and a father of three, hearing that is very disheartening.

But unfortunately that is the mindset of many of our young people because they've experienced certain things throughout their life.

And so they don't have hope, they don't have vision for the future.

And so what I try to do with my platform being on the Peoria City Council is be that voice for the voiceless and hope for the hopeless.

Show kids from Peoria that you too can be on the city council.

Or you can be a lawyer, you can be a doctor, or you can be an experienced tradesman.

You can do so many great things.

And so really just be hands-on and really try to lead by example.

- Absolutely.

And I know you did work in the college system for a long time, but it's not always college.

What are some other examples of maybe you think prominent people in Peoria that maybe they don't have that college degree and they have other certifications and all those things, good examples that you think kids can look at too?

- Well, I think it's very important that the unusual suspects get involved.

And those are those who are the barbers, the cosmetologists, the entrepreneurs, those who have trades, who have really gone on to do things after high school and they're living successful lives.

And so I really try to let people know, although I've had a career in higher education, long as you get some type of post-secondary credential after high school, that'll set you up for success.

high school that has set you up for success.

- Yes, trades can get you a long way.

It's called "Pain Trauma and Suicide: How I overcame," and this is kind of a new book, tell me what this is about.

- That book really tells my story.

It talks about a kid who experienced a lot of trauma and went through my whole entire life without it being diagnosed and my struggles with suicide, depression, and being an African American male, I didn't know where to go and have the resources to go to.

But luckily I was able to survive my suicide attempts and overcome that battle, overcome that struggle.

And I know that it's possible.

So when I wrote the book, it came from me working at a juvenile detention center and seeing so many youth coming in with my same story, with the trauma background and not having the right people around them.

Hence why I took the job at PCAV, because with Peoria Community Against Violence, I get an opportunity, we get an opportunity to serve the whole entire family.

We have the resources to get involved after shootings happen, and we get to serve the whole family.

And so when you think about that young girl who says she may not live to see 26, with that, we get an opportunity to provide counseling services, maybe jobs for their family, resources to be able to give them that hope.

- Yeah, and we are running out of time, so I will make sure that I talk to you after this and I can get all the details on where people can find this book and who you recommend it to.

So thank you all so much.

But in Central Illinois, a path of crime can lead them to jail.

Shelbey Robert shares the redemption story of two people and how they tapped into mental health resources to reinvent themselves.

- [Shelbey] Many days you'll find Jermaine Hickman here at his garage in Peoria working on his flashy cars.

- This is Letty.

- [Shelbey] It's a passion of his that keeps him motivated to move in the right direction.

But the path to this point in Jermaine's life stems from a sordid past.

- People knew me as a shooter.

They knew me as a car thief.

They knew me as a criminal.

But now when people see me, some people, "You been to jail?"

- [Shelbey] At 22 years old, the Chicago native spent 10 years in prison for attempted murder.

He then was released, parolling to Peoria for a fresh start.

- So I didn't want to go back to the environment that put me up.

So I came here not knowing anybody, not knowing a soul.

Then they threw me into class.

- [Shelbey] Classes for recovery as part of his parole stipulations, including therapy.

- Being able to tell my story to people that I didn't know.

It's kind of hard, but you know, you be around people enough, it's kind of like a group home.

You become like a family.

- [Shelbey] It's a family Jermaine never expected to open up to as a self-described private person brought up in a rough childhood.

But for him, the decision to attend therapy was life changing.

- Talking about things that got us to where we ended up.

What was our plan or if we even had a plan, and how were we gonna initiate the plan to be a better person.

- [Shelbey] Robert Ridley is no stranger to therapy either.

- I really needed someone to talk to, just to kind of get to the root of any issues that may be there, or like coping mechanisms.

- [Shelbey] Between multiple stints in the Peoria County Jail for drug manufacturing and delivery charges, Robert's work release program required him to go to counseling.

But in 2020, Robert reached out on his own after his good friend was murdered.

- Where I was pouring my life and my energy into this vessel.

And it was actually working out.

He showed the world something different.

He showed that people could change.

So that right there, that motivated me.

Losing him, kind of like, I don't know, kind of rocked me.

- [Shelbey] Two different men with two different backgrounds, but one common denominator.

- So if there is no one that will give you a voice, I will be your voice.

- [Shelbey] Dr. Bernice Gordon-Young, a psychotherapist, has been working in the mental health field for 28 years.

During that time, she's counseled Robert, Jermaine, and other men and women at the Peoria County Jail.

No judgment, just mental health resources.

- You have to really care.

There are some people that have some really, really difficult charges to accept, right?

But to be able to put that to the side and see a human being, who, at that time needs some help.

- [Shelbey] For Jermaine, life without therapy would look much different.

- Honestly, I'd probably be still incarcerated or probably dead because there's no outlets.

- [Shelbey] And for Robert, it gave him a way to control his emotions and anxiety and a path to process the murder of his good friend.

- Helped me understand kind of where things began and why I was feeling how I was feeling, and let me know that it was okay that you feel that way.

Like, you can feel bad, you can feel sad.

You can have these emotions as a man.

- [Shelbey] A concept that Robert once rejected, but now he says he is fully embracing, challenging the stigma of therapy, particularly with Black men.

- The machismo fact of it, I'm a man, you don't have issues like that.

You shouldn't need to talk to someone.

Everybody needs somebody to talk to.

- [Shelbey] Since being released from jail a now 43-year-old Robert graduated from school, has a steady job, and is focused on being a husband and raising his 16-year-old son.

49-year-old Jermaine is now a father of five, gainfully employed, the owner of multiple homes and cars, and founder of Flossin Car Club, a nonprofit for Central Illinois car enthusiasts who also give back to the community they call home.

- I got more to lose than everybody around me.

And when you think of it that way, I mean, I think I'm in a way better space.

- [Shelbey] Both Jermaine and Robert are now fully reintegrated into society.

Dr. Gordon-Young calls them success stories.

- And it doesn't have to be, you have the six bedroom home.

It simply means you are a constructive citizen.

You know, it means that you are kind and you treat others well.

But most importantly, success means you treat yourself well.

(no audio) - There are a number of different factors that determine someone's choice to take someone else's life, but it is a choice nonetheless that could forever rock a community.

Right now we're joined by mayor Dr. Rita Ali, to come in on this part of the conversation.

Mayor, what can we as a community do in order to make sure that people don't have to make these choices to shoot and kill someone?

- Well, I think we have to equip our young people with conflict resolution skills, with anger management abilities.

We have to help them to not choose to pull the trigger.

There used to be times when an altercation would be a fight, a fistfight, pushing, shoving each other.

But now when anger or conflict erupts, they have access to guns.

They have guns on the person.

And you know, they don't always understand that there are serious consequences that lead to death and death is final.

And I think that we have to make, help them to understand that death is final, that ending someone's life is not good for our community.

It's not good for you as an individual or your family or your future.

- Well, you know, one of the initiatives that you have really championed is the Safety Net Initiative.

Been on the front lines of that, working with a community network of people with city leaders, health officials, law enforcement, religious leaders to come together and really try to find solutions to crime in this city.

But there are some people in this community that feel that crime prevention efforts only start and end at the discussion table.

What's being done to make sure that safety net isn't even in that cap, that you're going beyond those discussion tables to make actionable change?

- So the Safety Network is really a network of individuals that are connected with organizations or groups that have resources that can help to support individuals and families, helping to identify their needs, whether their workforce needs, their housing needs, and really wrapping those needs around these individuals, those children, after school programming.

Even Carver Center is one of those organizations that's part of the Safety Network that provides afterschool programming for young people to prevent gun violence.

But the network itself is a, you know, we've been meeting for about a year and a half now.

We are making progress because we're meeting not in silos.

We're meeting with the police.

I think it's the best of community and police relations working together to solve problems and identifying where the hotspots are in the community.

We have two very hotspots on the East Bluff and the South Side of Peoria that we've identified.

We wanna put a parameter around those hotspots.

We wanna identify those households and provide resources to support the individuals that live in those households.

- We see you out and about in the community a lot of times.

What are some of the most common or even most surprising things that people tell you when it comes to their concerns about crime in the city of Peoria?

- They talk about poverty.

Of course, we know 20% of our residents in Peoria live in poverty.

Some of those hotspot areas are also very high levels of poverty.

We know that there are housing needs within, there's so much disparity.

And you know, a large percentage of the victims of homicide, of those that are perpetrators associated are within our African American community.

But you have to look at the disparities that are based on race within our community.

And there's a report that's going to come out next month that the Joint Racial and Equity Commission will actually release and it will show the long history of racial disparities within our city.

We have to address those racial disparities if we're going to see even the reduction of gun violence and crime in our community.

- You've been in office for about a year and a half now.

What grade would you give yourself in the handling of crime in the city of Peoria?

- Well, I would say I'm doing my best.

I'm putting forth a strong effort, working with the community, working with the police, trying to really bring people together to work together on solutions.

We've have great leadership in place with our Chief Echevarria.

We have great leadership amongst the ranks of the police department, but we have also great leadership within the community, our organizations, our residents, our activists, our outreach, people who are doing case management, people who are providing support, addressing trauma.

And don't forget our schools, our schools are major stakeholder in this because that's where the students really start and they start, you know, acting out at a certain level.

We have to begin to address and nip that in the bud soon.

- Mayor Dr. Rita Ali, we really appreciate your time as well.

Let's turn it over to Jenise.

- All right, Shelbey, we have heard very eye-opening statistics.

We've heard really sad stories and now we're wondering, what can you do?

Now Phil Luciano spoke with a mentor and a volunteer who helps kids and adults find a path to a brighter future.

- [Phil] Andy Huey couldn't sit on the sidelines any longer.

Huey, 64, taught social studies at Illini Bluffs in Glasford before retiring several years ago.

He wasn't sure of his next step, but he wanted to do something to push back at all the negativity he kept encountering in social media and elsewhere.

- And this is what we're going to work.

And I was also frustrated with people butting heads and arguing about issues in our country.

And I thought, "I need to stop all that static and actually do something."

- [Phil] Huey decided to help at a ground zero level.

He volunteered at a South Peoria after school program where kids could get a meal plus study schoolwork or play play games.

Three years ago, he started teaching GED classes at Neighborhood House, the 125-year-old social service agency on Peoria's South Side.

CEO Julie Bonar says there is a common foundation for all of Neighborhood House's programs, hope.

- We provide hope.

Our teachers, our tutors, our volunteers, everyone is so inspirational in helping our clients achieve whatever goals that is that they may have.

- [Phil] She believes anyone can help uplift a community at Neighborhood House and elsewhere.

- [Julie] I think anyone can help out.

You just have to love working with other people and getting to know other people.

Oftentimes our volunteers find it very rewarding because they build relationships, they really get to know the clients, and they celebrate our client's successes.

And they hurt when our clients hurt and they really develop close friendships.

- [Phil] Andy Huey has experienced many emotions as a volunteer.

He says his heart breaks for students facing harsh problems like poverty, homelessness, even murder.

- I had a student get a phone call, see if I can get through this.

She stepped out to take the call.

She came back, she said, "My son's been killed."

That's way beyond what I'm used to dealing with.

- [Phil] But even amid such dire situations, programs like Huey's GED class can give people hope for a better future.

- And when you have a, you know, a class full of people, they're helping each other and encouraging each other, and that's wonderful to see.

So just, you know, tune everything else out for an hour and a half and let's just work on getting better.

- [Phil] And on his end, Huey feels better as well.

- It feels really good to see somebody figure things out and reach their goals.

We don't have a beginning or end here, people just... (no audio) - All right, Phil.

Now you talked to a lot of people when we were working on this.

What do you think was the most surprising or impactful conversation that you had?

- Well, they all, with the kids.

It's all so heartbreaking to hear these things that they go through.

I mean, for anyone of any age, it's just like, oh man, how do you push past that?

How do you get through that?

But then when you see someone as young as six, and they see this happen before their eyes, and like the panelists are saying, there's always hope, there's always work to be done.

But, you know, even the panelists were saying that it's so hard to gain their trust.

And he had a six-year-old and he's in a pretty safe environment, hanging by me and a mentor at Dream Center.

And even then, he's really, really reluctant to talk.

So the work that these social agencies have to dig into these kids' life, it's hard.

But thank god they're there.

- Absolutely.

And I feel like we do tell these stories a lot and we talk to a lot of the people that were here.

We talk to 'em a lot.

But I feel like every time we have this conversation, I still learn about more resources and they're constantly, you know, working and talk about the story that you worked on.

What was the most surprising part for you?

- I think one of the biggest things that Dr. Gordon-Young shared with me after hearing from the two young men that had been formally incarcerated were that there is life behind bars.

So there are people in this community that will choose to not follow the rules, but there are still resources in order to make sure that they are able to reenter society.

And I think that that speaks more back to Phil what you're saying there, that there are available as well.

- There's always hope.

And that's the thing, I think that's tonight there's a lot of scary stuff I guess should we call it.

But there is this element of hope and people are working hard all the time.

I mean, if you look at just the headlines and we deal with headlines, right?

The headlines, it gets very, very scary.

But then when you hear what all these folks are doing here, there and otherwise, it's like maybe there is a chance, maybe Peoria can can just get better and I think it can.

- Absolutely.

And talking with Aimee Shinall at the Peoria County Sheriff's Office and all the resources there, she said that she could talk all night about all the resources there are for victims families to stop that cycle of violence that some families see generation after generation.

- Yeah.

- Well we came together tonight, united for peace in Peoria.

- Well we came together tonight, United for Peace in Peoria.

- That's right.

- And absolutely I think we definitely did that tonight.

- And Absolutely.

I think we definitely did that tonight.

Bringing everyone together as we move forward, - And we offer our thanks to the Carver Center for hosting this conversation.

- That's right.

It's a very important one.

And we leave you with lists of some different resources that you can take advantage of as early as tonight.

- Thank you for watching.

- Thank you.

(no audio) (no audio)