MEDIA ROOTS- This is a perfect example of how a NYC community organized to tackle drug related crime by working on preventative methods instead of reactionary ones. The NYC West Side Crime Prevention Program just closed after 30 years of opertion, because members of the community began to take an active role in solving the region’s drug related crime epidemic.
Abby
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WEST SIDE SPIRIT– It’s not every day that the end of a venerable and productive organization is cause for community celebration, but the closing of the West Side Crime Prevention Program last week, after 30 years in operation, marked a victory for the Upper West Side and its residents.
Formed in 1980 in response to the dangerous conditions on the streets, the program began working with local schools, businesses and NYPD precincts to combat the rampant street crime and drug use—crack cocaine was a major problem at the time—in the area.
“In 1980, the West Side was like a wild west show, and kids were constantly being mugged. It just was not a safe place,” said Mort Berkowitz, president of WSCPP. “A kid leaving school with a nice pair of sneakers, a new jacket, could be set upon.”
“It was truly a golden age of community organizing,” said long-time executive director Majorie Cohen. “It was necessary. Things were bad. The SRO across the street from where I was raising my kids [on West 92nd Street] had four drug-related homicides within six months.”
She and other community members began working with the District Attorney’s office, criminal justice agencies, community boards and the NYPD. They cleaned up a particularly bad block of 107th Street that was notorious for drug dealing by holding outdoor summer camps there with the police. Soon they realized that they could also work to prevent crime, not just clean up after it.
Read the full article about The End of Crime?
© 2011 West Side Spirit
Photo by Flickr user Garagendrachen
