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Council recognizes Gun Violence Awareness Month; residents urge more prevention funding and park safety action
Summary
Council Member Kaplan led remarks recognizing Gun Violence Awareness Month and citing local prevention work; a mother described losing her son Colby to gun violence and multiple public commenters pressed the council for more funding, better outreach and police follow-up on park incidents.
Council Member Kaplan opened a recognition of Gun Violence Awareness Month and called attention to community prevention efforts and partners working on trauma recovery and street intervention.
Kaplan said the council honors lives lost and stands in solidarity with families; in the meeting record she noted police data indicating a decline in shooting incidents but did not provide a clear, unambiguous year-by-year breakdown on the floor. She praised community groups and emphasized collaboration between city programs and violence-intervention partners.
A woman identified in the record as Michelle gave an emotional testimony describing the death of her 22-year-old son Colby and the family’s ongoing grief. "Today has been 633 days since my son Colby was tragically taken from us," Michelle said in the chamber, describing scholarships established in his memory and asking how she could help effect change. She emphasized that she had not intended to become an advocate but had decided to act to prevent others suffering similar loss.
Several other public commenters described safety problems and urged more city investment in neighborhood-based prevention. Timothy Pool, identified as a nonprofit CEO, questioned why long-standing grassroots groups struggle to get city funding or invitations to collaborate. ISAL LEGRA TAYLOR (recorded in the transcript as CEO of Village Advocates) said parks and pools have become unsafe and urged investment in social services and youth programming. Demarcus described an assault and a park incident where he said he was threatened and reported limited police follow-up; staff asked him to speak with staff after his remarks so they could pursue follow-up.
Ray Lozado, a retired probation officer and director of the Office of Safe Schools, described ongoing collaboration with community partners and the school district and said prevention requires work off campus as well as on it. Lozado said a meeting was planned to establish a framework for collaboration among city, probation and school partners.
The record shows strong emotional testimony and multiple calls for more staff resources and better coordination; the meeting transcript records requests for follow-up but does not include a council vote or specific funding commitments during the session.
