By JEFF STITT
[email protected]
In the McKeesport NAACP Unit’s second community meeting on the topic of gun violence prevention, panelists continued to push the idea that the community and individual families need to take an active role if they wish to see instances of gun violence reduced — especially among young people.
The panel spoke frankly on the subject, saying that efforts to deal with gun violence can not be tainted by politics, and that problems related to gun violence can’t and won’t be solved through police work alone.
They also described how factors related to race, academic achievement, employment, social and family problems and addiction feed into a culture of gun violence.
The meeting at McKeesport Area High School’s auditorium Thursday was led by McKeesport NAACP President Brenda Sawyer. The panel also included community outreach specialist Tamara Collier and Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Rivetti, who are both from the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, as well as Black Political Empowerment Project CEO Tim Stevens and Keith Murphy of the Healthy Village Learning Institute on Freemont Street in McKeesport.
Also sitting on the panel were McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko and University of Pittsburgh assistant professor Dr. Richard Garland, who is doing work in and around McKeesport related to violent crime reduction.
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