Jane Titchenal attended every meeting Salem held this summer asking for community input on addressing a rising gun violence problem in the city.
She said the meetings were encouraging, and often generated productive discussions, but they can’t be the end of the community’s involvement in reducing violence.
“I just hope that people continue with these ideas, continue with this energy. Let’s follow back up. Let’s bring all of this actually out into the streets,” Titchenal said. “Now is a perfect moment for our community to come together and really figure out what’s going to work and benefit everybody.”
More than 100 people gathered Thursday night at the Salem Alliance Church for a final community meeting focused on finding solutions to a rising gun violence problem in the city.
Ramping up the energy in the room, Ben McBride, a consultant brought in to facilitate a violence reduction initiative, led attendees through a set of call and responses, telling each person to turn to their neighbor and ask, “What are you going to do?” to help put an end to community violence.