Jackson, Deskins Continue to Combat Youth Violence in Cleveland

Three influential Cleveland figures joined 90.3 WCPN’s The Sound of Ideas Monday, to talk about the issue of youth violence in the city.

Led by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, who was joined by Police Chief Calvin Williams and former County Prosecutor Duane Deskins, the trio emphasized the need for a holistic approach to curtailing violence in the city.

Jackson’s administration is working to make changes following the passage of Issue 32 last November, which approved the first city income tax increase in 35 years. The increase is expected to generate $83 million a year, and will not only be used to improve city services, but also to fund anti-violence programs.

Jackson laid out his plan as three-sided, and aimed at covering all the necessary bases.

“So yes, we’re dealing with the intervention side, the prevention side, we’re dealing with the opportunity side, but this is a holistic approach,” Jackson said.

This approach also consists of working with young people to prevent violence, improve their sense of accomplishment and relax them through outlets such as yoga, theatre and chess.

Deskins, who was recently named the chief of prevention, intervention, and opportunity for youth and young adults in Cleveland, has been a key player in creating opportunities to keep young adults out of potentially violent situations.

He said that creating good relationships between parents and children is instrumental in making those children feel valued in their communities.

“And so what we’ve been trying to do is partner with lots of organizations, health systems and others, to try to help our parents and help their communities to become more holistic, to understand themselves and become better caregivers for their children,” Deskins said.

On a larger scale, Cleveland’s stock has been on the rise amidst a three-year period of continued success that includes hosting the RNC, and producing two championship-caliber sports teams.

While this success hasn’t gone unnoticed by Jackson, he sees the city falling short when it comes to inclusion.

When asked by host Mike McIntyre if he thought Cleveland was a great city, he was very straight forward in his response.

“No. Cleveland is not a great – Cleveland is a successful city,” Jackson said. “We’ve been very successful, and those things can be measured, but we’re not a great city because we haven’t fully incorporated everyone into our quality of life and our prosperity.”

The question was based on a comment Jackson had this past May, when he said “A great city is not measured by bricks and mortar. It is measured by the people and the condition of the people.”