The Advisory Committee on Police-Community Relations met Thursday night for a town hall detailing community resources against violence.
Three community projects, ‘Lights On, Peoria,’ Peoria Community Against Violence, and the Peoria Police Resource Center all gave short presentations to the committee.
Demario Boone, the Director of School Safety for Peoria Public Schools, gave a summary of ‘Light’s On, Peoria’ and its weekend events for youth.
The events include laser tag, movies, haircuts, and video games to name a few. The weekend events usually see an attendance of 40 kids and some events up to 70. According to Boone, all participants are returned home by bus.
Boone spoke on the impact of the program as it progresses through its second year, detailing how two young men planned their weekend meals around the events.
“The need is so great there was one time where two young men were there (Lights On, Peoria event) kind of waiting behind as the kids were loading back on the bus,” Boone said. “We could literally hear them plot out ‘This is breakfast for Saturday morning and lunch for Saturday afternoon then we have Lights On where we could have food for Sunday.’ And the fact those young men had to plot out food for that weekend and we were able to provide that, (which) was really good.”
CEO of Peoria Community Against Violence Becky Rossman says since March her Crisis Response Team has responded to 14 different shootings.
The response team addresses immediate mental trauma at the scene. They provide ‘to-go bags’ containing water, food, and phone chargers to those needing to reach out. Rossman says the bags even include books and toys as many incidents involve kids at the scene.
The group provides group crisis intervention sessions. These sessions allow people to build connections with others dealing with PTSD.
Rossman says their Street Intervention Team, comprised of 25 individuals, is slowly becoming involved in deescalating scenes of anger.
“Even when we were out down in the south end there was a shooting two blocks over,” Rossman said. “So, there is an element of danger, which makes it harder for us to recruit -- but we’ve been very lucky that so many community members want to step up and help us. They want to be a part of the solution in changing that narrative.”
The intervention team currently includes retried cops, former gang members, veterans, and pastors.
Focused Deterrence Project Manager Chris Johnson says the Peoria Police Resource Center has provided countless material items and job training to area residents. The resource center is celebrating its first year this Wednesday.
Johnson says the start of the resource center prioritized community engagement including neighborhood back-to-school supplies, bicycle giveaways, and a mobile food pantry serving 250 people this past weekend.
Johnson mentioned how one grandmother in the East Bluff reached out about bedless children.
“Fortunately (she) was there to support her daughter who took on three children who didn’t have beds, linen, or any of that stuff,” Johnson said. “So we worked in conjunction with the boys and girls club there and was able to get beds for families, pillowcases, and all the stuff that went along with it. And we did that as a group effort up there in the East Bluff.”
All three projects are currently accepting additional volunteers and donations to assist residents.
Contact Information
- ‘Lights On, Peoria’ - Email - demario.boone@psd150.org. Insert Lights On in the email header.
- Peoria Community Against Violence - pcavceo@gmail.com for Becky Rossman
- Peoria Police Resource Center - Phone numbers - (309)-839-1221 for the center and (309)- 303-8600 for Chris Johnson
