By Terry O’Day Planning commissioner
Shootings on my two-block stretch of 17th Street were shocking and mysterious when my wife, Tiffany, and I first moved to Santa Monica. As our sixth summer in the neighborhood begins, these shootings have become personal, familiar and frus-tratingly predictable. They are part of a cycle of violence that swells each summer. This summer’s early beginning can be a wake-up call to make a commitment to change. It’s time for Santa Monica to make it a priority.
Last Monday night, Tiffany and I were in front of our home, walking to our car, when shots rang out a couple hundred feet away. Young people fled the scene, passing a few feet before us, and forcing Tiffany to take cover behind our bushes. Others fled by car in a different direction. An ambulance was passing, adding to the noise and confusion. The surreal bustle of activity made time move in slow motion. Two hours later, after talking with police, neighbors, and nearby relatives, my own anger began to grow.
The story began to sound like summers past. Recently, my stretch of 17th Street has been described by local press as “a common place for gunfire, gang activity, and drug dealing” (SMDP, May 5, page 1) and “a crime-riddled pocket of the Pico neighborhood” (The Lookout May 4). The first shots in the latest outbreak were actually fired Sunday night at around 1 a.m. That hot night, with all our windows open, Tiffany and I were shocked awake by the sound. We had heard that a large fight broke out there during the afternoon, and we realized that the familiar pattern of revenge had begun.
The violence in Pico is frustrating because it is so predictable. There were multiple shootings in Pico last year before 19-year-old Jalonnie Carter was killed. Five years ago, violent retaliations between Culver City and local youth also ended fatally. Perhaps this summer we can end the predictable cycle of revenge before we lose another youth.
It is also frustrating because Pico neighborhood’s problem is not insurmountable. Our neighborhood is filled with decent, hard-working, friendly people who want better for their families. Pico hosts little more than 12,000 residents, and the violence is happening in an eight-square block area — in the midst of the most progressive, activist city in Southern California, and one of the more affluent.
For some reason, however, too little attention has been paid to this problem. The current responses are not working, and our city’s priorities lie elsewhere. The city spends $5 million per year on homeless services, builds traffic islands everywhere you look, and local activism has whittled down to parochial concerns over public process.
The strength of our institutions, our heritage of activism and our city’s historical relationship with Pico Neighborhood compel Santa Monica to treat this problem seriously and deal with it finally. There needs to be an open, public process to involve the community, city leadership, and public safety professionals in creating a solution. We cannot allow our most diverse, affordable neighborhood to continue to struggle with violence. We all must rise to the challenge.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 12, 2004. Read the original PDF.