Violence In EnglewoodThe Solution: By Stacey JohnsonNovember 2013

In My Neighborhood (Englewood)…

Violence is a constant problem in my neighborhood. Englewood that is. I’ve lived on the Southside of Chicago since I was about 10 years old. Things have gotten worse and that’s not just my opinion, it’s a fact. More than anyone else it effects the children in my neighborhood. Parents are afraid to let their children play outside due to the fear of stray bullets. The truth is no one is really safe. I wonder everyday if things would change if there were less drop-outs, more job opportunities, and better living conditions.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-overnight-crime-shootings-nov-16-nov-17-20131116,0,2915240.story

Cause or Excuse??

The Chance to Succeed“Give a person an inch, and they’ll take a mile.” I believe that everyone deserves a second chance . You can’t

expect that building new homes and sending people to school will end all the violence. But they are ways it can be deferred. The way I believe this can be done in a more efficient way is to start by giving the ex-offenders another chance. Most of the time with there backgrounds it’s hard to get a well paying job and even if it pays well the job is pretty crappy. Therefore they see the need to go back to fast money. (Selling Drugs, Robbery, Prostitution, etc…) . I would consider trying to pass a law that would, after a certain amount of years and meeting a certain criteria , their backgrounds would be erased and no company or organization would be able to check it to hold anything against them. (7yrs Old at the most)

Links to Programs Somewhat Like Mines

• www.secondchanceprogram.org (Re entry)

• www.goodwill.com (overcome

barriers to employment)

How my program would work…

When they receive a background check if the crimes is 7yrs or older it wont appear. This is only apply after they have meet a certain criteria:

• Went through rehabilitation• Counseling (for the specific

offense)• 60hrs of community

service• Proof of stable living

conditions • No run-ins with the law less

than 3yrs old

Roderick SawyerAlderman 6th Ward