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In the wake of two murders and other shooting incidents, LaGrange Councilman Quay Boddie called for and hosted a community meeting to address violence on Thursday evening.

The informal meeting focused on addressing violence, particularly youth violence and crime prevention. Mayor Jim Arrington, Councilmen Nathan Gaskin and Leon Childs were in attendance, along with Police Chief Garrett Fiveash, a contingent of officers, and numerous community leaders.

Boddie began by acknowledging the problem of violence in LaGrange and explained that the meeting was to collaborate on ideas that can help.

“We know that there’s not a single answer or solution that will solve all of the issues that we face within this meeting tonight. We will not give a false narrative that we have all the facts or can put a complete stop to everything that we’re facing. We do, however, feel that if we can put our hands together, remain committed and put forth some effort forward and make positive progress,” Boddie said.

Arrington echoed Boddie, saying the solution to the issue of violence in LaGrange isn’t going to be easy.

“We don’t have the answers. That’s why we asked y’all to come up here. Let’s put our heads together. Let’s figure out solutions. If it were easy, every city in the United States would have solved this issue already. There would not be any more gangs. There would not be any more violence if it was an easy fix,” Arrington said.

Arrington discussed some of the initiatives the city is working on to tamp down violence in the city, including fully supporting the police department. 

“We’re going to continue to fund them and give them the resources that they need,” Arrington said, noting the drone system that is about to be installed on top of the police station. 

“It can be anywhere in the city in 90 seconds. It’s got the capability of taking photos, video and reading tags, so it can be eyes in the sky,” Arrington said.

“We increased the police officers’ salaries, trying to fill some of the vacant spots. That’s been working, but we’re not at full capacity yet,”  Arrington said. “They’re constantly working. And I want to thank them for that. But we know, as leaders, that it’s going to take more than just policing.”

LPD Officer Matthew Fowler, who heads up Community Outreach and School Resource Officers (SRO) for the department, discussed a couple of the things that they are doing.

SROs are working to mentor, counsel and provide things to do for the youth that will keep them out of trouble, Fowler said.

“Our portion of crime prevention … is preventing future crimes even six months, a year, two years, three years down the road, by keeping these children that are at risk out these problems that they get caught up in. Out of the gangs, out of the crime and the streets,” Fowler said.

He said they do so with counseling programs in schools where students can communicate with officers and feel safe with police officers in the future.

Fowler said Community Outreach is also starting up a Neighborhood Watch program that  Officer Bryant Mosley is heading up.

“He’s been working on that for a couple months now. He has divided the city up into several different areas and has been in contact with a lot of the newer apartment complexes and a lot of the subdivisions in setting things up. Those should be out within a month or so,” Fowler said.

Chief Fiveash introduced the Tip 411 app, which allows the community to provide anonymous tips to police and hopefully help reduce crime.

“If you don’t do anything else tonight, when you leave here, get on the app store and download Tip 411,” Fiveash said. “The way it works, when you log in, it takes no personal information. If you see a crime take place, if you see something that you’re concerned about, if you have concerns in your community, or you just simply have some information that you want to pass on, it’s a good conduit for you to do that.”

Fiveash said when users send in tips, the Tip 411 app takes users’ telephone numbers and encodes them to a random number so that when the information comes through to police, they don’t know who you are.

“I understand when you live in a neighborhood where there’s problems, you don’t want to be the person that tells on somebody. You don’t want windows knocked out of your house. You don’t want retribution, you don’t want their kids picking on your kids. We understand those things. We understand that it’s difficult to step out and say things. That’s why this works so well,” Fiveash said.

Fiveash said information from Tip 411 helped them arrest a sexual offender that they had been looking for for about two years.

“Through Tip 411, through a singular tip, we were able to put that person in jail,” Fiveash said.

City leaders and others noted that more policing isn’t going to eliminate the problem. The solution is preventing young people from getting involved in criminal activity in the first place.

Councilman Childs introduced Eddie Rhodes, who coordinates the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG) Dream Team, a youth bike organization for kids 11 to 17 years old.

“The crime we are experiencing, most of these kids are between 11 to 17 years old. The bikes are free for these kids to get on … they just need mentors and coaches to help the students remain safe while they’re out on the road,” Childs said. “They’re not asking for anything monetary. They’re not asking for nothing funding-wise or anything. They’re just asking for support to get your kids and the community’s kids into a program that’s going to keep them off on the streets,” Childs said, saying the bike program is just one safe alternative for youth to keep them out of trouble.

“Like they say, an idle mind is the devil’s playground,” Childs said.

Boddie said they want to continue to hear suggestions from the public and to contact them with any ideas.

“We want to continue hearing from y’all any ideas or suggestions, whatever the case may be, and I promise you, we’ll be responsive on those things. Do not be afraid to reach out to me or to any of the council,” Boddie said.