By Michael Degen
Home to drug houses, absentee landlords, and a gang rivalry that has resulted in at least a dozen murders since January, the West Side of Buffalo often gets stereotyped as a hopelessly dangerous, drug-riddled area.
This year alone, the city of Buffalo has seen 61 homicides, many of them taking place on the West Side, according to the October 4 issue of The Buffalo News. There were a total of 56 homicides in Buffalo for the entire year of 2005, according to the August 26 issue of The Buffalo News.
But while homicide figures continue to swell, so do the number of community activists and associations looking to stamp out these offenses on the West Side.
“What we’re trying to do is create more block clubs to alleviate the crime,” said Linda Freidenberg, president of the Board of Block Clubs of Buffalo and Erie County.
Block clubs are an effective way to combat and reduce crime in troubled communities, Freidenberg said. This is because the clubs have a number of techniques and services designed to reduce crime, such as:
But in order to be more effective, these small block clubs and organizations must work together to share information and techniques, Freidenberg said.
Two years ago, a community group called the Johnson Park Association decided to expand. With its effective crime reduction efforts, the association was garnering a lot of attention and requests for help from neighboring block clubs that were not so successful.
What emerged was the West Village Renaissance Group, a merger of the Johnson Park Association and neighboring block clubs. Just two years after the West Village Renaissance Group was formed, it was awarded the countywide 2006 “Model Block Club Award.”
A big part of their success is their effective crime reduction programs, said founding member Marilyn Rodgers, who is also the chair of the Crime and Safety Committee for the West Side Good Neighbor Planning Alliance.
In the first three months of 2006, the group helped police to shut down eight drug houses and make over 300 drug arrests in the West Village, Rodgers said.
While watching the streets and keeping contact with police are effective ways to combat Crime today, the block clubs have begun to look to the future as well. Efforts to get West Side youths more involved in the community are in the works, including internships designed to help elderly homeowners. Youth interns will care for elderly homeowners houses, learning valuable lessons of homeownership while giving back to the community.
“It’s not just fighting crime and safety. You need youth initiatives and senior initiatives to abate future crime by having proactive programs now,” said Rodgers. “Unless you look at every facet, what good does it do? You can’t just fix things on the surface, it goes a lot deeperthan that.”
For more information, visit:
Board of Buffalo Block Clubs Resource Center
Why a Block Club?
West Village Renaissance Group
Map of West Village district
Michael Degen can be contacted at MJDegen@google.com
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