South side area looks for change

Residents discuss youth problems on Harriet St.

Ypsilanti Courier    Thursday, June 29, 2006

By Kathleen Conat, Special Writer

NOTES:

• The following article as it appeared in the Ypsilanti Courier had an inaccuracy. As displayed here, the correction to the factual error is underlined.
• See also Notice of Curfew Enforcement from the Ypsilanti Police Department.

Concerned parents and community leaders from the Gateway and Heritage Park areas met last Thursday evening at the Perry Child Development Center to vent their frustrations and discuss ways of resolving problems occurring in their neighborhoods.

The problem has found a focal point at Burton Court and Harriet Street, where a party story, the Harriet food Mart, is situated across from Perry CDC.

The approximately 45 meeting participants described fights between children and youth that escalated when parents and neighbors joined. Interim Chief of Police Matt Harshberger said there had been no major injuries yet. But police consider it only a matter of time before there are injuries, unless the situation is brought under control.

Harshberger said the children are predominantly between the ages of eight and 16. They congregate, fight and show off for their peers. He added that they have been confronting uniformed police officers when they arrive, instead of breaking up the group.

Meeting participants agreed the children are not respecting adults and have been harassing elderly residents of the area, effectively trapping them in their own homes. Several in the audience said the problem stemmed from two families that had moved into rental units on Burton Court They described trash being thrown in the street, a basketball hoop set up in the middle of the street that impeded traffic, drug activity, and an increase in prostitution.

Residents said Burton Court had, formerly, been considered a safe haven for children, but that had been destroyed by the two families. They described trying to approach the parents of these children, only to be turned away or threatened.

Residents agreed this was not solely a police matter. Several said the problem began in the home and in the lack of activities for children over the summer months. They also agreed that the party store, which is rumored to be a center of drug activities, has become a focal point of the problem because the owners allow the children to congregate there.

While some called for the churches to open their doors and provide summer activities to the children, others, such as parent and social worker Stephanie Homes, said more was needed.

"The parents also need help," she noted. "We need to reach out and see what that parent needs. Sometimes that parent is still a child and it's children trying to raise children. They need education in how to be a parent."

The Rev Harry Grayson of Messias Temple said he had seen little communication outside of the current meeting. "Churches are working to help," he said, "but, the parents are not raising the kids." We need to ask how we can get the parents involved with their children. This community needs to stand together. The police can't raise our children for us."

The Rev. Phillip Ferrell, president of the Ypsilanti Ann Arbor and Vicinity Ministerial Alliance, said the citizens at the meeting needed to focus on solutions. "We need to sit down together. The kids are not here to tell their side. We don't share with one another. The fact that we have so many churches in this area is because we don't work together.

"This is a good start," Ferrell continued, "but we need to do something instead of just blowing steam. We need to come together — police officers, educators, lawyers, parents and everyone else to form a coalition and find answers."

Harshberger said the police were enforcing the city's curfew of 11 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., for anyone under 17 years old. He explained the officers would be conducting sweeps of neighborhoods where trouble had been reported, as well as other areas of the city.

The meeting adjourned after a consensus was reached that another meeting, focusing on solutions, was needed.

Harshberger later reported the Thursday night curfew sweep had resulted in ten children and nine parents being ticketed for violation of the ordinance.