Day Before Murder, Teen Sought City’s Help

by Paul Bass | Apr 7, 2014 2:27 pm

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Posted to: Legal Writes, Social Services

City Hall heard Torrence Gamble Jr.‘s name last week—one day before someone shot him to death. Gamble told a street outreach worker that he wanted to sign up for a new city mentorship effort called “My Brother’s Keeper.” It matches adult volunteers with “at-risk” teens. Officials planned to take him along with other teens to play paintball on Sunday. Jason Bartlett, the city’s youth director, received an email with Gamble’s name from the outreach worker, who had spoken to a class at Riverside Academy, an alternative high school, about efforts the city’s making to help kids in trouble. Gamble was in the class. He subsequently, on Wednesday, told the outreach worker he wanted to participate in the program. Bartlett said he got the name the same day as he was beginning to put together a list of My Brother’s Keeper participants. He put Gamble’s name on the list. Then at 9:38 p.m. Thursday someone pointed a gun at Gamble on Daggett Street and shot him in the head. Gamble was 16, the second teenager shot to death in New Haven in less than two weeks. In fact, the day before his death, Gamble had attended the funeral of the other murdered teen, Taijhon Washington. Bartlett (pictured) said he sees a lesson for the city as it hustles to react meaningfully to the two murders: That kids, even the most troubled kids, are looking for help. He noted that Gamble had recently left one youth gang, Slut Wave, for another, the Playboys—yet he was also asking to take part in the new city program. “That tells me this young person was not comfortable with what he was doing, and he wanted a way out,” Bartlett said. “We need to make sure they have somebody in their life to can look to” for that way out. Gamble died before the new city program could reach him. Officials are hustling to make sure they reach others in time. They plan publicly to unveil the My Brother’s Keeper program on Wednesday. Also, with the weather warming up and school out next week, officials are trying to get out in front of any continuing gun violence. They plan to keep schools open during spring break, Mayor Toni Harp announced Monday, as well as to put together a “youth night.” Click here to read a memo Harp sent all city employees Monday outlining steps her administration is taking in the wake of the most recent violence. As part of My Brother’s Keeper, Bartlett has a list of 16 initial at-risk teens with whom he has matched eight volunteers—cops like Dixwell District Manager Sgt. Sam Brown, firefighters, chief New Haven probation officer Leonard Jahad, city officials like deputy community services chief Jackie James. They’ve each agreed to take on two teens as mentees. James said the goal is to include 100 young people in the program along with 115 adults. She called her involvement in the new effort “probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life.” (She asked people interested in signing up for the program or donating money to call her at (203) 676-9478.) She and other organizers met with some of the targeted young people—who’ve been shot at, or have shot people, or have been through the judicial system—at Stetson Library to hash out ideas for how New Haven could help them live straight. Since then, the initial group has gone bowling and planned other activities. James said she has helped four of the young people find jobs, taking one of them on as an intern. “They want to go fishing. They want to go camping,” she said. “These are the disengaged, high-risk kids; they want to be engaged.” She said Gamble was on the list to attend a paintball outing with the group on Sunday. Organizers decided to delay the trip a week after the murder. On Monday Mayor Toni Harp sent a memo to city government workers asking more of them to enlist so the My Brother’s Keeper list can grow. She invited employees—and the public at large—to a community meeting Wednesday starting at 4 p.m. at the Elks Lodge on Webster Street. There, she wrote, “parents, community leaders, members of the clergy and educators” will be able to register for the initiative and will participate in a discussion about “how social media impacts violence and non-violence.” She also mentioned plans to have teams of cops and firefighters, educators and street outreach workers and truancy workers, and other community members perform a “canvas” in neighborhoods aimed at reaching at-risk kids and their families.

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posted by: connecticutcontrarian on April 7, 2014 2:37pm Any comments from Alder Stratton and the People’s Caucus on how plans to slash the budgets and consolidate services may impact some of these initiatives?

posted by: jim1 on April 7, 2014 4:33pm OK Lets take these kids out and train them how to play. PAINTBALL Bad choice of game to teach them..

posted by: robn on April 7, 2014 4:50pm “officials are trying to get out in front of any continuing gun violence” ...by giving kids weapons training with paintball guns?

posted by: BenBerkowitz Wait, what? Paintball? A game where kids play with weapons that look like real guns and the goal is to shoot other humans?

posted by: OccupyTheClassroom Why not address the underlying causes of the need to join a gang? What are the contributing factors? Why not host gang Olympics? Winner that year gets bragging rights.

posted by: Elizabethaiken on April 7, 2014 5:22pm When you are looking at the budget, you want to know which initiatives work. Obviously all of the programs do not work. If they did, both the schools and the city would be in better shape. If there was a real accounting of success, then you could take the resources from the failing programs and put them in to the successful initiatives. Hopefully this is one of the successful initiatives.

posted by: NewHavenTaxTooHigh on April 7, 2014 5:41pm This seems to be a very positive development. Any change has to begin at the community, family level and must involve the private sector. There is only so much that government can do. Government support is necessary, but government in and of itself is not a solution.

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on April 7, 2014 6:19pm It is to late for this.After a surge of teen violence in the early 1990s, some social scientists predicted the future was going to be a whole lot worse. Reality proved otherwise. The ‘Superpredator’ Scare. http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000002807771/the-superpredator-scare.html And it is going to get worst.

posted by: giveittogod on April 7, 2014 6:31pm I UNDERSTAND WE ALL HAVE RIGHTS TO OUR COMMENTS BUT AT TIMES WHEN I READ THEM SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST SO NEGATIVE. IF WE ARE TRYING TO HELP OUR YOUTHS LET US BE POSITIVE IN OUR COMMENTS AND HELP MAKE IT BETTER.

posted by: BenBerkowitz giveittogod,

ALLCAPS implies negativity and shouting FYI.

posted by: LookOut on April 7, 2014 9:20pm Simple answer to the earlier post about the People’s Caucus and also the NHI True Vote: NO! We do not want higher taxes in response to these terrible crimes. The answer is not to take more money from working folks and give it to political insiders. The answer is to cut bloated government and cut wasteful spending. This will do two things; 1) It will allow money in government program to flow to the people that need it. This is the #1 goal of the People’s Caucus. 2) It will create a tax environment friendly to businesses that create growth and jobs. When business and job growth occur, EVERYONE benefits. Let us all pray that the People’s Caucus is able to stop, or at least slow, the machine politics that are ruining our city.

posted by: Gauss on April 7, 2014 9:49pm Paintball? Is this really the best activity for kids at risk?

posted by: Abdelnoir on April 7, 2014 10:36pm giveittogod… I agree. Noteworthy, I find your comment to be most unhelpful. I think that your stance that the black community is somehow at fault for these difficulties implies that some inherent flaw exists in people of color. What I would like to point out, is that while you attribute all of these negative attributes to the black community, you fail to recognize that in larger part, the violence that we are seeing, is actually in larger part a product of American culture. In which case, I would encourage you to put your money where your mouth is and reach out yourself to the people whom you criticize so harshly for struggling. If more Americans did this instead of the constant denigration and negativity, instead of writing it off as a “black” issue rather than an issue with our culture and history as Americans, we might actually begin to see some improvement. As long as predominant attitudes like yours exist, the problem is only more difficult. What are you doing to help, if anything besides denigrating with blanket statements an entire community of your fellow Americans?

posted by: giveittogod on April 7, 2014 11:09pm BENBERKOWITZ it should shout out. It got your attention.

posted by: LeeCruz According to Dr. Felton Earls, currently at Harvard School of Public Health, we have most of what we need to significantly reduce violent crime in New Haven already in place. Community is the relatively inexpensive and sustainable way to reduce violent crime. We need to embrace the idea of creating and sustaining community. Residents in Dixwell, Fair Haven, The Hill, Newhallville and West River and other New Haven neighborhoods have begun to take action. Find them, join them, support them. Read here about how violent crime is reduced in urban neighborhoods:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/06/science/scientist-at-work-felton-earls-on-crime-as-science-a-neighbor-at-a-time.html

posted by: BenBerkowitz giveittogod, Yelling louder than others to get attention is akin to picking a fight in a group of people having a conversation. You didn’t need to yell to get my attention. I read all of the comments. Yours was just the only one I disqualified because of the tone.

posted by: michaelnogelo on April 8, 2014 8:28am 3/5: “It is too late for this.” Are you suggesting giving up and doing nothing?

posted by: westville man on April 8, 2014 9:08am Did I miss something? Is Noteworthy’s oft repeated phrase “Hug a Thug” the name of a program in the city?? I’m surprised NHI lets some of his comments like this one in. I find it hard to follow my self-imposed gag order. Flat out racist rant about the Black communities “lack of education, morals, upbringing ...appreciation of life..”! Where the hell are we- Alabama in the 60s?

He’s gone off the rails in his last few posts and NHI needs to watch these comments more closely.

Noteworthy-Stick with your ‘watchdog” budget views. Or this reader will boycott NHI permanently. All this in the wake of a tragic murder of a 16 yr old in our community. One who was reaching out for help. God help us!

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on April 8, 2014 9:41am posted by: michaelnogelo on April 8, 2014 8:28am 3/5: “It is too late for this.” Are you suggesting giving up and doing nothing? What more can be done.We have done everything.In fact the problem is parents can not control there own children. My Bad May be get rid of the police chief.

posted by: BenBerkowitz In the spirit of offering positivity per the suggestion of giveittogod: Spending more time in Westville of late I am struck by how far parts of our City have improved since the 80’s and 90’s. Of note: It feels safe to walk the 2.5 miles from Westville on either Chapel or Edgewood to and from downtown. While Chapel could use a massive litter clean-up between BLVD and Howe and there is still some prostitution, Edgewood is one of the most pleasant walks in the City. Edgewood Park is occupied by people using the park for recreation. While there is still criminal activity including muggings, the fact that anyone not committing a crime is spending time in the Park is a dramatic improvement from the 80’s and 90’s. Participation in civic groups and ngo’s West of Downtown has increased dramatically and it shows.

posted by: New Haven Urbanism Noteworthy, Having preachers talk to their next door neighbors won’t help because the preachers live in the wealthiest areas of the city, not in the neighborhoods where their congregations live.

posted by: cp06 on April 8, 2014 3:35pm @giveittogod—keeping comments “positive” and “nice” is not going to solve this problem (its also not an excuse for ignorance or racism though).

Doing things for “youths” that are not going to help (i.e. paintball?) does deserve criticism and should be called out. While we may employ the belief of “giveittogod” in our personal lives, if we choose, applying that stance/philosophy/mentality to real-world, complex social problems is nothing but shirking responsibility.