LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Take guns off the street and cut down on violence. That's the goal of a Louisville anti-violence program that is expanding to Newburg, thanks to a multimillion-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
With new tennis rackets in hand and energy to spare, Harry Floyd is teaching two of his great-granddaughters to play tennis. The girls are really not old enough to come to Newburg Park alone and, even if they were, Floyd wouldn't allow it
“No way in the world, no no no," said Floyd. "I don't think they would be safe at all."
The pungent odor of marijuana invaded their space at the park on Friday. Floyd said "and they don't fear you smellin' it.”
Floyd said the once quiet neighborhoods are no longer safe or quiet.
“Crime is terrible. On my street, Oakdale it is," he said. "I hear gunshots all the time, people going up and down the street or you can hear people outside in their cars doing wheelies stuff like that.”
Crime has risen to a level that the DOJ awarded the city with a roughly $2 million grant to help curb gun violence in Newburg.
The fund a three-year pilot project called the "Newburg Gun Violence Reduction Project" to cut down on homicides and non-fatal shootings.
It will add an additional "violence interrupter site" in Newburg. The sites use community members in Louisville's highest-risk neighborhoods to prevent potentially violent situations. The city's Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods runs the initiative. Sites are already established in the city's Portland, Shawnee, Russell, Smoketown and California neighborhoods.
Just a short walk from the Newburg tennis courts is a playground, a popular place on a bright Friday afternoon.
“Well with the violence going on, it is just a little scary having younger girls in the area," said Marisa Johnson, a single mother of two girls, the youngest just 9 weeks old.
Johnson said Newburg is better than the neighborhood she moved from in the city's west end. She wants a neighborhood and city that is safe for her girls. For starters, she said it would be nice to see more police in the area.
“There is not enough authority over here paying us attention,” she said.
Back to the tennis courts, Floyd said he is 100% behind any violence reduction plans, but he is going to need some action.
“It wouldn't hurt to have more cops," he said.
By the time the three-year pilot program comes to an end, most of the kids on the playground will be in elementary school, and their parents hope the program is successful.
Related Stories:
- DOJ providing $2 million to expand Louisville's 'violence interrupters' program to Newburg
- Site of old Smoketown liquor store being transformed into safe space, learning center for kids
- Louisville leaders hopeful as they work to reach young people caught up in gun violence
- LMPD looks to expand anti-violence program into more elementary, middle schools
- Louisville expands 'violence interrupters' program aimed at stopping gun violence in 5 neighborhoods
- Metro Council passes ordinance providing $8M to expand 'Violence Interrupters' program
- Louisville leaders consider old strategy to break cycle of violent crime
- Metro Council could slash problem-plagued department that uses ex-cons to prevent crime
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