Page 4 - 3-27-15 Friday's Edition

Feature Letter From The Editor
Write Your Opinion On How To ‘Stop The Violence’
Since the beginning of this year, the news has been bombarded by sev- eral murders in Hillsbor- ough County. So far, 15 Black males have died this year.
Of that number, 13 took place in the city limits and 10 of those remain un- solved. This rash of mur- ders has resulted in officials and members of the community scrambling for solutions to stem the violence.
As a result, the Sentinel is taking a unique ap- proach to the problem. We are asking individuals under the age of 25 who committed a crime while a teenager or young adult to reach out to others.
We are seeking individ- uals who are currently in- carcerated or who have served time for commit-
ting a violent act to answer the following questions: “If I could do it over?” and “How To Stop It?”
The offense should have taken place within the last 5 years and facts will be verified. The Sen- tinel will select and print what we feel are the 10 best responses.
We are hoping that your experience will help to let teenagers know that violence is not the road to take and your message will serve as a warning to what lies ahead for them.
All entries must be signed and submitted by April 10, 2015. The entries can be mailed or emailed to: Iris B. Holton, City Edi- tor, Florida Sentinel Bul- letin, 2207 E. 21st Avenue, Tampa, FL 33605; or emailed to iholton@flsen- tinel.com.
‘Street Talk’ Gives Opinions About Rash Of Violence
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor is frustrated, and feels the community needs to step up and exposing the people respon- sible for 10 homicides since the first of the year.
The frustration detectives have experienced is because of mistrust and the so-called “no snitching” rule. The combina- tion of the two makes it virtually impossible to find out who is re- sponsible for the murders.
Another source of informa- tion is the “street talk,” and ac- cording to the young people who don’t want to be identified, there are an assortment of reasons why these shootings are occur- ring.
Special K said he thinks it’s the music.
“We’re talking about a bunch of ‘gits’ who actually be- lieve in the music they are lis- tening to. The music tells them it’s fine to kill someone, and it also tells them what to do to snitches.
“You have to understand that these ‘gits’ are so young, they don’t care what happens to them when they shoot someone. All they understand is the feel- ing they get when they pull the trigger, see people running, then find out later they’ve killed
someone.”
Special K said besides the
music, where they live and who hey hang out with has a lot to do with it.
Trash Man said he believes they just don’t want to be punked out.
“I think they are just scared of looking like they’re weak. Most of them can’t fight, but when they get their hands on a gun, they know they can scare people and do what they want. They never think about the fact that other people have guns.
“The other thing is they have no fear of dying or going to jail. They don’t really have any plans for the future.”
This writer asked another young man, who wants to be known as the “Undercover Lover” where are the guns coming from.
“They get the guns by break- ing into cars or burglarizing a house. There really aren’t as many guns out there as people think. These guys pass the same gun around several times, so there’s no telling how many peo- ple have been shot with the same gun.
“I’m just 20, and I’ve already seen my sister and cousin gunned own. It didn’t happen here. I thought when we moved to Tampa the dumb stuff would stop. I see I was wrong.”
A group of young men agreed that the police don’t stand a chance trying to get peo- ple to talk, because they don’t have to live in the same neigh- borhood with them.
“It doesn’t matter who does the talking or how they do it. They know who is talking to the police, because they know who they can trust and who will talk to cover themselves.
“If the police really want this to stop, they need to be where the happenings are. They need to spend more time looking at these ‘gits’ during the day and pay attention to what they’re doing. It all don’t go down at night all the time.”
Right Hand said he thinks they are being talked into shoot- ing people by others who are trying to protect what they’re doing.
“The reason they don’t care about shooting someone and don’t care about shooting into a crowd is because life and death means nothing to them. When they shoot somebody, they brag about it. When they find out the person they shot is dead, they really get proud of themselves, and brag even more.
“The people they brag to are mostly their home boys or some relatives. They make sure to do it in front people they know won’t talk to the police.”
PAGE 4-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015