A Mobile resident sparked a heated discussion about crime on Tuesday during the regular meeting of the city council.
Rodney Toomer is the program director at Mobile Inner City Mission and the nonprofit Opportunities for Entertainers. He also serves as a detention officer at Strickland Youth Center.
Toomer played a recording of a high-risk youth who said he came from the streets. He said his brother was shot 56 times and that the youth needs healing. He went on to say the only way to change the environment is to change the minds of the community.
Toomer said he hears the cries of Mobile's youth every day. After experiencing trauma himself as a young man, Toomer said he has come up with solutions. He said schools should be safe spaces with more counselors prepared to deal with trauma and mental health struggles.
"Let's train adults, teachers and coaches, even DJ's, like me, to spot the signs and help them," Toomer said.
As his three-minute time limit was reached, Councilman William Carroll requested an extension of his time.
"I'd like to hear every bit of it. In lieu of what we've been going through in this city with gun violence and balancing youth," Carroll said. "There should be an outcry. We should hear solutions. We just had a shooting at the Saenger. Last weekend, we had a shooting on Ross Street where one kid shot his mother to death, and the brother came in and shot the kid."
"There is an uproar and a need for a change and if we don't start listening for change and if we don't stop the way that we've been doing it and find something else to do, then we need to, we need to do something else, so I'm not going to cut him off. I'm going to allow him to speak today," he added.
Councilman Joel Daves pointed out that allowing him to continue without a unanimous vote of the council was a violation of the rules. That's when Councilman Cory Penn continued Toomer's presentation by asking him questions.
Toomer continued by saying kids need places to go after school to keep them out of trouble.
"When we see children that go to school and they get suspended because they acted out in school, we don't have counselors that could take them in another room and find out why that child acted out," Toomer said.
He encouraged the City to partner with local businesses and community leaders to create summer jobs. He also suggested building relationships where youth can meet police and have honest conversations.
Toomer said he had a broader plan he would like to share with council members.
Penn, who has been involved in prison ministry, said he is willing to do what is necessary to ensure resources are made available.
"I believe that we can implement certain things already, and we can expand it, and we can develop," Penn said. "You said something very powerful that we have to stop pointing fingers at each other, and we have to move together, and right now we haven't been seeing that."
Carroll said he agrees and looks forward to seeing the broader plan, and he committed funds to the initiative.
"I'm going to tell you that over the last two weeks, I have been preaching that there needs to be a new direction," Carroll said. "I mean, we've been talking too long. We've got to change the approach. I'm going to commit resources to it right now, and I'm going to tell Cory that I'm going to commit the first $5,000 to some type of program for it."
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