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NORWALK, Conn. — TheDailyNorwalk.com accepts signed, original letters to the editor. Letters may be emailed to letters@thedailynorwalk.com.
To the Editor,
The facts about what happened on Memorial Day at the city's beach are not 100 percent clear, but a few things are obvious to us:
• There was an altercation, and we agree that no one has the right to intimidate or fight any other patron of the city's public beach.
• The majority of the teenagers (more than 90 percent) at the beach that Monday were not committing any offenses and therefore had every right to patronize the city's public beach.
• A Norwalk Police Officer incorrectly perceived and profiled a large group of teenagers as gang members. Police cannot expect to have a positive relationship with communities like South Norwalk when it is obvious by this incident that they incorrectly view us all as criminals.
We're not pointing blame in Monday's event; however, we will take this time to point out a significant contributing factor that led up to this incident.
Lack of Youth Activities: Norwalk currently and historically has lacked activities for teenagers. For decades, teenagers have been limited to riding around in a friend's car, playing video games and occasional stops at the beach — the beach being the one constant for teenagers in Norwalk. For years, South Norwalk leaders have asked for funding to create opportunities for teenagers and youth in our community. We cherish every positive opportunity available, which is why we fought so hard for funding for the Summer Youth Program.
Despite our leaders asking for funding and funding coming into Norwalk for the purposes they fought for, either via the mayor or the Norwalk Police Department, programs are lacking for South Norwalk youth. Norwalk Police Department has reported to our congressman that they have trouble getting kids to attend their programs funded with federal gang prevention funding. But you never see them actively recruiting kids to their programs. Where are the fliers and announcements about these programs? Memorial Day would have been a perfect time to hand out fliers and recruit kids to programs funded with federal gang prevention funds, but we didn't see any of this.
We can't let our kids be bait to gangs; we need positive funding and programs for our youth in South Norwalk, one way or the other. Our police department has to be held accountable, our mayor has to be held accountable, state legislators, and our congressman. There is no excuse for the fact that out of $1 million in federal community grant dollars sent into Norwalk this year that only $4,000 went to support a youth program located in South Norwalk (that program being the Maritime Aquarium which is similar to the beach, our children will be unwelcome by some). And only about $40,000 of that $1 million went to youth programs in the entire city of Norwalk. We feel the majority of the funding should have gone toward youth programs that cater to minority and at risk youths: ignore the youth and you ignore the future.
On another note, we are sad that so many Norwalk residents were so quick to assume that all of the kids at the park were gang members. Some people claim that the Trayvon Martin situation could never happen here but it is obvious that although actual gang members make up a very small number of African-Americans and Hispanics in Norwalk, we are all incorrectly perceived as such.
Travis Simms, Sandra Stokes, Ernie Dumas, Phaedrel (Faye) Bowman, Nabil Valencia, and Martha Dumas comprise "A Better South Norwalk"
Comments (25)
Blaming a community and lack of free or subsidized activities for the behavior of our kids is the epitome of irresponsibility. It's our jobs as parents to raise our kids and if we fail then WE failed, not the community or the city. I won't bother to get into the irresponsibility I in having children in the first place if we can't afford them, let alone several children, but that's a big part of he problem. The fact is that the working class in Norwalk are already heavily burdened by our efforts to help the underprivileged. Trying to say we ignore them is rediculous.
It's also rediculous to try and say that black children aren't welcome at he beach or anyplace else. I think it's past time that people stopped the crying and race baiting so hat we can move forward.
It's a fact that some community leaders milk these things for all they are worth. That needs to stop if these leaders really want to move forward. These people create he perception in our youth that discrimination is much more prevalent than it really is. They need hope infused in them not hate. Instead they grow up hearing about how badly they are treated and in turn grow up to do the same things. This is not the 1950s. We have minorities, of every type, in all levels of society and government, even in our pd which people here seem to think is discriminatory.
The bottom line is we cannot ignore or water down the truth about violent crime and where it comes from to avoid hurting he feelings of people who sit waiting for heir feelings to be hurt. We have tried that and are seeing the results. Nobody ever said raising a family would be easy, but it is the parents responsibility plain and simple. It's all I and many others can do to raise our own kids, it's simply wrong to place the blame for bad kids on our shoulders or to suggest that we need to do more, many of us are tapped out already. Was a time when there were no programs like we have now, when families actually went places together and made their own activities. If you can't afford summer camp then take your own kids to the beach for the day. Or try harder to give your kids what they need.
Ken P
Well said. Today's minority youth have a lot of successful role models in all professions - Richard Parsons (former Chairman of Citigroup and Time Warner), Barack Obama (President), Colin Powell (Secretary of Defense), Condoleeza Rice (Secretary of State), the list goes on and on. Crying racism where it doesn't exist gives youth an excuse to not even TRY to succeed, in spite of the vast numbers of minorities who already have. Youth who are fighting at the beach don't need Reverends to defend them by falsely accusing Police Officers of racial profiling, they need Reverends to put the fear of God into them so that they won't behave that way ever again!
The issue is not skin color but parenting. A single mother receiving little to no child support wants to give her children a better life, so she works long hours at a low or middle-income job. She can't take her kids to the beach for the day because she has to work to support them. In the meantime while she's at work, nobody is looking after her kids. Is it any surprise that many fall prey to negative influences? Children of ANY color left to themselves will eventually be victims of their own bad judgement. That's what makes them children, and that's why they need supervision.
I agree with you that there are a lot of people having children who shouldn't, due to the fact that they don't have the financial means or the stable family structure needed to raise them into productive members of society. But what's a solution for that which doesn't smack of eugenics? And what can we do about the status quo? Who will look after the children that are effectively unparented and, as a result, are getting into trouble? Is there any effective and constitutional way to criminalize or penalize bad parenting? I don't like the government having to step in any more than you do, but I'm not sure there's any realistic alternative.
There was no massive fight at the beach. There were a couple a groups assembling, each had a few kids the officer knew as gang members, and it looked to a veteran officer like a major fight developing. He called for backup and mentioned there were gang members involved. The groups quickly disbursed and faded into the beach crowd. The gang colors quickly disappeared. An event that looked like a major fight was prevented from developing into a major problem.
A few people, including HOUR staff and a police chaplain, over-reacted to the officer's call for backup and made unjustified assumptions, one about a "massive gang fight" and the other about racial profiling, both inaccurate. The major fight was prevented, which is what police are supposed to do, and the lone officer working at the beach should be commended.
As for the claim that the Moccia administration has a lot of grant money not being used for the intended purpose, isn't that why Moccia demanded Joe Mann's head, when an audit showed NEON, on Mann's watch, had used grant money for other than the intended purpose ? Moccia is withholding NEON grant money now, while he and Chiaramonte figure out how to fix the Bd of Ed budget. Some of us can't understand why they, and Dr Marks, are not demanding an audit.
Norwalk might get youth programs in, but how many parents can afford it? My kids go to karate and play baseball/softball. I know these are activities to help my kids, so I make sure that I have the money to pay for them. There are no "scholarships" in place to help defray the cost. There should be. The cost for these programs are expensive for a middle class family in Norwalk. How could a poor family afford it? Especially a family that has 4 or more kids?
People complain but no one does anything...how about someone starting a fund for low income (or even middle class) kids to be able to get into sports? Football and cheerleading I hear is even more expensive then baseball/softball. Gymnastics and dance classes are even higher. How can we as a community think to help the youth if there is nothing for them to do?
Babe Ruth baseball, i think only goes up to age 15...what about the 16-18 year olds that enjoy baseball, but arent "good enough" for the high school teams? In my opinion 14-17 are the ages that boys start going down the "wrong roads"...well, its no wonder...what is there, sports-wise, for them?
Anyone have any ideas on how to help them?
As always lets blame someone else for the problems these kids have. where are the parents of these kids? To me 100 to 200 kids is a gang period! i don't care if they are bloods,crytps or T-Birds.... What every norwalker needs to do is get together and figure out how to fix the problems. The good people out number the bad!
soch, I agree with you. Part of the problem in Norwalk is that NO ONE "sees" anything going on. NO ONE "sees" that car, driving thru their neighborhood, really slowly, that car that they have never seen around before. NO ONE "sees" the teen ager (or group of teens) walking around, looking every which way...as that commercial goes "if you see something, say something" If the good citizens start calling the police, perhaps that will stop another shooting. You HAVE to get involved!
there's nothing posted at school about summer activities, well any season for that matter?
Guidance counselors, pastors Norwalk dept of rec. YMCA,( CIT Program) friends, relatives Parents?
hurry on down to the new ice house that's opening, volunteer with kids in summer school,
the homeless shelter, convalescent homes, neighborhood garden, adopt-a-spot, get a bottle and can drive going
fund yourselves, you'd be surprised how much people would offer if they saw you trying.
Stew Leonard would make a great spokesperson for kids and summer time activities.
the cops have to come to you,..go to them !
take a Red Cross course, a babysitter with CPR training makes good money that with you can entertain yourself
the Coast Guard Auxiliary has safe boating courses. PAWS would love your help
i think if you just got out there and did one thing so many other opportunities would soon find you.
@Broad River
Excellent suggestions all. In other words, ask not what Norwalk can do for you, ask what YOU can do for Norwalk.
"There is no excuse for the fact that out of $1 million in federal community grant dollars sent into Norwalk this year that only $4,000 went to support a youth program".
""
"And only about $40,000 of that $1 million went to youth programs in the entire city of Norwalk"
The question that needs to be asked is where did the money go. I would hope that those writing this letter will be demanding an audit by the state agency that gave these funds.
It seem as of late Norwalk has many question about funds.
Briggs High School
The BOE 10 million/4millon
Excessive police overtime
Norwalk Hight Student accounts
Neon
A private company operating at a city dock
All this while we get a tax increase
.
.
You're right, where did it go is the question and then how was or will it be used is the second question. A lot of times we know where it lands but we dont know how its used...the redevelopment agency has been transparent in how they're using their funds. That should be mandatory for every agency and/or department.
Spooner, aka STAN.
Do you work for free? Rev. Mann is not a paid employee she is a volunteer. EMINEM wrote a song about a guy like you called STAN.
Watch the STAN video and you will see LWITHERSPOON in action.
Halfwatt,
Serving as a volunteer is commendable, but it doesn't give anyone a free pass to make false allegations of racial profiling before knowing the facts, especially when you're the Police Chaplain and you have a direct line to the Police Chief.
Why are you trying to change the subject to rap? The fact that somebody mentioned your name in a comment does not automatically make this a forum to discuss bad rap, although I can certainly see how you would think that, considering what an awful rapper you are. I still laugh out loud when I think about how you made a rap video with terrible production values - it looked like you were in your Mom's basement or something. Then some kids made a better rap video criticizing you, and you told The Daily Norwalk that those kids shouldn't have criticized you because of the color of your extremely thin skin. Help! Help! Kids are criticizing me! Better play the race card to protect myself against these kids!
In any case, it sounds like you are trying to change the subject to discuss rap because you know you can't dispute any part of my comment. Thanks for confirming that in front of everybody. You are an embarrassment to the Common Council.
Stan,
Do you work for free? Rev. Mann does! Rev. Mann is a first class volunteer and she put in thousands of hours for free. If the people knew that she was one of the three chaplains and does not get paid- it would a different story.Rev. Mann serves this community with respect and you are a online sniper. Hiding behind your computer writing lies and slandering people's names. Stan, you need some help.
halfwatt aka hawkeye aka shonuff aka David Watts
I laughed out loud when you accused me of hiding behind a computer, since that's exactly what you're doing under a number of different aliases. I feel it should be beneath an elected official to post anonymously but apparently you don't. Councilmen Kimmel, McCarthy, Councilwoman Romano, and other elected officials have posted here under their own names because they have the courage to own their words, and I applaud them for that, even if I didn't always agree with what they said.
Rev. Mann may do some good for the community. However I don't believe that Rev. Mann serves the community with respect when her response to a large fight at the beach is to criticize police officers for racial profiling, while not saying one word against the youths who broke the law by fighting and intimidating people. What sort of lesson does that teach our youth? It's OK to wear gang colors and get into a massive fight at the beach - but God forbid anybody describe you as a gang member! That's when we REALLY have a problem, and if that happens, YOU are the victim, even though you were fighting and breaking the law!
Regarding lies and slander, please be so kind to point out any "lies" that I have posted in my comments. Note: Just because you don't want to accept that something is true, that doesn't make it a lie.
Spooner aka Stan,
You attack people and sign their names to your rants! You are a fraud, phony and a Stan! Your writings contain a noun, a verb and David Watts. Do you have a picture of him on your wall? Do you dream about him?It is really creepy that you would write so much about one person.
Halfwatt,
You failed to point out any lies or slander. A few recent comments were obviously satire and everybody knew that. I am obviously not David Watts or Nellie Mann, everybody knows that. Sometimes the words and actions of people get so ridiculous that the only way to respond is with satire. If you're so thin-skinned that you can't take a little humor it may have been a mistake for you to get into politics.
Would you like to try again to provide some evidence supporting your accusation that my comments are nothing but lies and slander? That's a pretty serious allegation to make so you should probably provide some supporting evidence.
I think it's interesting that you can't dispute the substance of my comments, so you simply resort to personal attacks. None of my comments are personal, they have everything to do with the words and actions of the people involved and how those words and actions harm the community in which we live.
Just for your info Spooner dosen't work for free as he is a stooge for the administration.
Your name-calling says more about you than about me.
I applaud the writers of this letter for acknowledging, albeit in passing, that nobody has the right to fight or intimidate people at the beach. The original complainants are still strangely silent on that issue.
Unfortunately, most of the rest of the letter is based on a major factual inaccuracy. The letter states that "A Norwalk Police Officer incorrectly perceived and profiled a large group of teenagers as gang members."
THAT IS NOT TRUE! Please see the original report in the Hour here:
http://www.thehour.com/news/norwalk/massive-fight-between-gang-members-breaks-out-at-calf-pasture/article_2ca9de66-a90d-11e1-a654-0019bb30f31a.html
The story does not contain the reporting officer's exact words but it does state: "The first officer on scene referred to THOSE FIGHTING as a large group of 'Bloods and Crips', referencing the known street gangs." (Caps added for emphasis.)
The officer DID NOT refer to every youth at the beach as a gang member. He referred to THOSE FIGHTING as a large group of Bloods and Crips. He did this after recognizing 7 known gang members and others wearing gang colors. At the time he made his remark he was trying to gain control of 100 to 200 youths.
Do these community leaders really feel that they are helping ANY community by defending the right of fighting youths to not be called gang members, even if some significant portion of them are wearing gang colors?
It seems to me that rather than focus on the ultimately unanswerable question of who is and who isn't a gang member, and what someone said over a police radio, the writers of this letter would better serve their community by condemning fighting at the beach in the strongest possible terms. This should NOT be about skin color - it should be about BEHAVIOR.
Arguing that lack of youth programs was a major contributing factor to the fight at the beach appears to place responsibility for the fighting on the taxpaying citizens of Norwalk and our elected officials. That's a cop-out. Those responsible for the fighting are 1) the people fighting and 2) their parents.
Lastly, I was disappointed to see the writers of this letter unfairly heaping MORE criticism on the Norwalk PD, this time for not handing out fliers about anti-gang programs on Memorial Day. If these community leaders feel that anti-gang programs need more publicity, why don't they offer to work with the PD to publicize the programs? If Mr. Simms et al truly are community leaders, they should be able to organize the community to fill the PD's anti-gang programs with hundreds of youths. How about dialing down the finger-pointing, and instead finding ways to work with the Police, so that existing anti-gang programs are filled to overflowing? That would be true leadership, and it wouldn't cost the taxpayers a penny.
The only thing correct in lwitherspoon post is the time stamp
I'm flattered that you stole my line. Thank you for the compliment.
Unfortunately for you, I provided evidence in my comment, everybody can open the link and see for themselves.
Leaders will gladly work with the PD but they have control over the funds and announcements. Seeing as how funds only can come in by a few channels, NPD being one, they need to be responsible with the funds. The information of the PD not being able to get youth into their program came from the congressman after our leaders inquired about funds for programs. We were unaware like most parents that there were even programs but we know they get funding....mayors summer youth program and norwalk mentor program are heavily advertised and therefore parents know about them and are utilizing them....
NEW NORWALK PD PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING YOUTH MELEES AT CALF PASTURE
By: Rev. Nellie Man, Norwalk PD Chaplain [Currently in a Timeout]
Councilman David Watts [Running away from this as fast as he can]
1. Ask each participating youth for his or her gang identification card.
2. Verify that each gang identification card is authentic, fake gang ID cards are a growing problem.
3. Use a mobile laptop to make a spreadsheet of all participating youths. Include individual columns to identify actual gang members, self-declared gang members, gang member wannabes, people who saw a gangster movie once, and Memorial Day Parade participants. Sort the spreadsheet and report tallies to HQ, The Norwalk Daily Voice, and The Hour.
4. If your completion of the spreadsheet fails to stop the melee, call for backup. When calling for backup, I can’t stress this enough people - NEVER CALL ANYONE A GANG MEMBER. It’s racist. Instead, refer to all people as Memorial Day Parade participants. This way you’re giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. Please follow this protocol regardless of whether or not it’s Memorial Day.
5. If any "Memorial Day Parade participants" break the law, do not arrest them. That’s racist too. You may, however, wish them a Happy Memorial Day.
6. Should you fail to follow this policy to the letter, you must publicly admit your racism, and apologize to the City of Norwalk. You must also apologize to lawbreakers, because it was your fault that they broke the law in the first place. (Thank you Tim T and Jane D for contributing this one)
HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY EVERYBODY!
Wasn't funny the first time and not funny the 6th time...typical of your type,
Just what do you mean when you say "your type"? I think you are guilty of profiling. I demand a public apology!