Leaders and community members discuss crime in Augusta

Local leaders and community members gathered Saturday to discuss crime in Augusta and possible solutions to the problem.

“Crime is happening in all parts of our city,” Mayor Hardie Davis said. “When you have someone from the ages of 15 to 41 getting killed, that is a problem.”

Davis was one of the panelists at the "Real Talk Real Issues: Discussing Crime in the Community" forum at the W.T. Johnson Center. Other panelists included District Attorney Natalie Paine, Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. Cory Carlyle and Augusta NAACP President Melvin Ivey.

The forum was held by former Augusta Commission candidate Jo’Rae Jenkins and was filled with community members, including commissioners.

Davis spoke about the problems he is seeing and said forums are not really effective.

“In our community in Augusta, we are much more comfortable doing (a forum) than saying something. We get comfortable and we feel good about the fact that we had a meeting,” Davis said. “I’m not going to feel good when I walk away because somebody is going to get killed tonight, probably tomorrow morning.”

Davis encouraged the community to act instead of having discussions with little to no action. People should show up to commission and school board meetings and to the sheriff’s office and have their concerns heard, he said.

“Your community activism has to take on a different shape. Solutions come from you,” he said. “As politicians, we can legislate, we can allow the sheriff and the DA to lock your friends up by providing them with more (resources), and that’s not the solution.”

One question for panelists involved the recent assault of a student at Glenn Hills Middle School, a case in which another student has been charged. In response, panelists called parents out about their lack of involvement in their children’s lives.

Carlyle said parents need to get involved in their children’s lives. Paine said they all have to be more aggressive about incidents that happen in school and that her office needs to establish a better line of communication with the school system. She feels the Glenn Hills case was not handled appropriately.

There have been 21 shootings resulting in 22 fatalities in Richmond County this year. Paine said she goes out to every homicide scene and goes with the Richmond County Coroner’s Office when families are notified.

She said looking a mother in the face and telling them their son is not coming home is one of the most difficult things to do, but it motivates her to get justice for those families. One of the frustrating parts is that some of the reasons people are shot and killed are ridiculous and show little to no consideration of life, Paine said.

With a couple of teens in the audience, Davis encouraged them to stay in school and away from drugs and gangs.

“Do not get involved in drug use. Do not get involved in gang activity,” he said. “It is not the way to live. It is not the way to have a successful life.”