Battle against gun violence in Muncie fought by neighborhoods and law enforcement

MUNCIE, Ind. − Violent use of firearms in Muncie, often by young men, has risen over years and has caused pervasive fear among the law abiding inside some neighborhoods, according to a trio of experts who took part in an online forum sponsored by The Star Press Thursday.

The forum was the first in what will be a regular presentation of forums tackling issues of concern in East Central Indiana. Participant were Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman, Ken Hudson, executive director of the Whitely Community Council, and Michael Patrick, clinical director for outpatient services at IU Health Ball Behavioral Health Services.

The Star Press reached out to police in Muncie and to the Delaware County Sheriff's Department to speak on the problem of gun violence in the community during the forum. Both organizations declined to participate.

Deanna Watson, editor of The Star Press, led the conversation.

Prosecutor suggests stronger penalties

"The past few years, maybe five, six or so years, I think there has been an increase in the gun violence problem in Muncie." said Hoffman."... If you do this long enough, you kind of get a feel for what's going on in the community and the ups and downs and peaks and valleys of crime. ... Far too many people who should not have weapons have access, easy access, to them. That's, I suppose, problem number one."

Hoffman said penalties need to be enhanced for being a serious violent felon in possession of a firearm. He said now it is a lower level felony but the penalty needs to be enhanced.

And, the prosecutor says the juvenile justice system in the county and state is broken.

"The juveniles in our community are not getting the help they need or the rehabilitation they need," Hoffman said. "Those juveniles, who are beyond rehabilitation are not being removed from the community adequately and sent to where they need to go."

He also said there need to be more community buy-in from neighborhoods, churches and schools in Muncie.

On July 30 a shooting at a block party at Willard and Hackley streets killed one and wounded 17 others. Since then the prosecutor said he has been watching Indianapolis and how the gun violence has been handled there.

"I got into the 10-point coalition and a fellow by the name of Rev. Charles Harrison. I started following him on Twitter and some of the things he had to say and I think he is a very brilliant man," Hoffman said.

Muncie lacks a similar communitywide effort from people, aside from law enforcement, working hard daily to keep the community safe, he said

"Police can't fix it all," Hoffman said. "Police and prosecutors, we can't fix everything."

Muncie community needs to be more involved

Hudson said that people in the Whitely neighborhood do work together to stop violence and improve the neighborhood but they sometimes need help from people particular skills to provide assistance. Gun violence is an ongoing problem.

"We've had some residents complain about bullets hitting their homes within the past few months," Hudson said. "I know one of our volunteers had a bullet go right through her living room window. That was the window she normally sits in front of watching the TV. It just happened (that) she wasn't in front of that window at that time."

People in Whitely try to look for solutions that go beyond surface level and try to reach out to children to set them on the right path, Hudson said.

"We believe that there are multiple reasons why someone would turn to a violent situation where someone would grow agitated with life or whatever it may be," Hudson said. "There is no one answer. There is no one fix. It will take multiple individuals at once working in the same direction, headed toward the same goal but coming from different points of view."

He said that when an incident like the shooting at Hackley and and Willard happens "one of the fears that Black communities and leaders have is that people will just point the finger and say there they go again. That's one thing we don't want to see happen."

Hudson noted that the late July shooting, which police say started with an altercation between two people, did not fit the usual definition of a "mass shooting."

But the solutions will need to involve many people.

"It really comes down to coming together," said Patrick.

Violence can change a community's culture

People in the community need to avoid distancing themselves from one another in the wake of a violent episode, Patrick said. The trauma that springs from these events is felt differently by different individuals. But it can affect relationships and a community's culture.

"There are probably people, individuals who are a little bit worried now to go to local places at times because of this (shooting)," Patrick said.

He said physical and psychological changes can result from trauma caused by gun violence.

Those who responded with online comments often reinforced what the forum participants said in the hour long conversation. Some suggested that young people be brought into the discussion concern violence in the community.

Looking for the missing pieces to stop gun violence in Muncie

"The leaders around the area are trying to figure out what's missing," Hudson said. "What needs to happen. What needs to be done and what approach needs to be taken so that violence doesn't continue to spread or increase. There is a lot of real good thought going on. ... There are multiple answers. It's like a jigsaw puzzle. In order to get a perfect picture you need all the pieces. One organization doesn't carry all the pieces."

He said that that people from all areas of the community need to come together and work on the problem.

Poverty and lack of education and economic mobility are indicators of crime, drug abuse and violence, Hudson said. And those problems are confronted by people in Muncie but his neighborhood association is working to break that cycle.

Finding ways to build a moral foundation for Muncie's youth

The conversation touched on creating a community center for young people and the loss of adult leadership and families, where right and wrong are often taught.

"The fundamental basic question that needs answered is why do individuals feel the need to carry firearms and why no they feel the need to pull them and fire them on other people," Hoffman said. "Why is that? ... Society as a whole over the past number of years has lost its moral compass. People are driven away from churches, driven away from schools and neighborhoods."

The breakdown of the traditional family unit is leading to more juvenile crime, he said. At one time the jobs of guiding people away from crime, now done by police, judges, prosecutors and much of the state, was taken care of by families inside the home.

"We don't have that anymore," Hoffman said. "We now have parents who encourage their kids to carry guns. If I can ever prove that, I'm going to prosecute these people. Because it is not only morally wrong, it's criminally wrong. I don't understand the breakdown in family."

Neighborhood organizations bridging the gaps now in the lives of many young people will need to be part of the solution, he said.

The complete hour-long forum conversation is available on The Star Press Facebook page.

David Penticuff is a reporter with The Star Press. he can be reach at dpenticuff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie community fights its plague of gun violence