VIOLENCE DRAWS IRE FOR MARION BARRY

From today's Washington Times. To read the original article click HERE. This man is literally costing lives with his incompetence. When will we finally have enough? Please donate/volunteer for the Charles Wilson campaign.

Thursday, August 14, 2008
Violence draws ire for Marion Barry
David C. Lipscomb (Contact)

A recent surge in homicides in Southeast has embattled residents pointing the finger at D.C. Council member Marion Barry, who is seeking re-election in November.
There have been 18 homicides east of the Anacostia River in the past 60 days, including 14 in Mr. Barry's Ward 8.
The most recent killing in the ward - that of Omar Finney, 22, of Southeast on Monday - prompted resident Joyce Scott to say Mr. Barry has squandered his influence with young people.
"They love Marion Barry," said Mrs. Scott, founder and president of the community group People United. "They would do anything for him. They would put their guns down for him."
Mr. Barry brushed off the criticism but said he remains firm in his approach to violent crime. He even said that he supports his critics' goals - except as they might relate to his own political future.
"It's political. They're opposed to my re-election," Mr. Barry said. "But I support them because it's the right cause."
Mr. Barry joined Mrs. Scott at a press conference that she convened Monday at the Robert L. Yeldell Towers on Southern Avenue to urge community leaders and ordinary citizens to confront young people who are living destructive lifes.
Tamalea Perry, 45, who lives in the towers, shares Mrs. Scott's spirit and also her criticism of Mr. Barry as the mother of two children that have been victims of gun violence.
Miss Perry's son, Reginald Lockard, 26, was fatally shot July 29, and her daughter, Kourtiney Lockard, 19, was paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in May 2006.
"He could show his face more - be more hands on," Miss Perry said. "Just show you care."
Mr. Barry has supported community policing and efforts to funnel social services to the most impoverished and crime-ridden neighborhoods. But he said that those ideas are Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's and that he has his own plans for reducing the violence - proposals that parallel Mrs. Scott's.
Mr. Barry said he expects residents to take responsibility for their communities, but he also supports more job training for youths as well as re-entry programs for returning offenders.
"Thousands of ex-offenders come back into the neighborhoods with nothing to do except rob people out on the street," Mr. Barry said.
Metropolitan Police say they are continuing community policing and intervention programs but acknowledge that poverty and lack of education have made policing a challenge.
"We're using a number of community policing strategies," said Metropolitan Police Cmdr. Melvin Scott. "We encourage our officers to engage with residents. We all are responsible for engaging residents."
Cmdr. Scott said the department has also received consistent support from Mr. Barry.
Mrs. Scott said she is satisfied with the police and wants to see residents get involved with the lives of their children and those of their neighbors instead of being afraid that they might become targets.
"It doesn't make sense when we live in a time when we're afraid of our own children," Mrs. Scott said. "We need to figure out how to get past their guns."