TAMPA, FLA. — Five, that’s the number of shootings law enforcement across the Tampa Bay area responded to over the weekend.
Those shootings involved children ages 12, 14 and 15.
Gun violence involving kids is a growing concern across Tampa Bay and the country.
“It’s absolutely shocking,” said Freddy Barton.
Barton is the father of two young men.
“As a father, it pains me because I know that there is a mother and father who don’t have their loved ones with them right now,” he said.
Barton’s other job is executive director of Safe and Sound Hillsborough. They work with kids who are in trouble with the law. The crimes range from possession of marijuana to grand theft auto, and shootings.
Instead of those kids being put behind bars, they’re assigned to be safe and sound for 30 to 90 days.
“We feel that we’re moving the needle,” he said. “We think everything is working fine and then something like this happens. we know that we got so much more work to do.”
Because of the growing gun violence, they launched a new program specifically for youth gun offenders. They keep them over six months. The kids are paired with mentors, attorneys to help navigate through the system, and there’s a mental health component.
“We cannot talk about gun violence without addressing mental health,” Barton said. “We offer free mental health first aid training for individuals and organizations.”
Another important part of the youth gun offender program, they take the kids to cemeteries, hospital trauma centers, morgues, and even to talk to families of shooting victims.
“We are trying to get the kids to understand that it is not just your choices, but the consequences of your choices,” he said. “You can’t get that life back, and you can’t get your old life back if you commit these offenses.”
Safe and Sound Hillsborough has been around since 2013. Barton said less than 20 percent of the kids they work with are repeat offenders. That’s the proof that the work they’re doing is making a difference. But they can’t do it alone. There are other local organizations, like Tampa Bay Academy of Hope, doing the hard work as well. They work with a little over 500 kids a year. Most of their students are either people who dropped out of school, or they’re in the justice system.
“Our goal is to keep them from going deeper into the system,” said Titania Lamb. She’s the executive director for Tampa Bay Academy of Hope.
Lamb said hearing about the shootings over the weekend was difficult, but it makes her want to work even harder.
“We need to do as much as we can so we can give them hope,” she said. “We need to reach out and put our arms around as many children that we can put our arms around.”
It also takes cooperation between the community and the police.
“I encourage the Tampa Police Department, the Sheriff's Department to get involved,” she said. “We try to work with them so young people understand that the police are there to help them.”
Tampa police said that’s what they’re doing. In a press conference last week, they touted their work and joint efforts with other agencies helping to arrest close to 100 people connected to violent crime across the city. The department also said last year it had an 18.9 percent increase in guns seized.
In an effort to continue curbing violent crime, the department plans to use the $1.5 million federal grant funding to help profile services for violent crime prevention, create more safe spaces, and look into the effectiveness of the department’s crime reduction programs.
