Fresno leaders gather to discuss ways to reduce violence in city
City leaders plan to take the top ten ideas from the summit and work within the city budget to try to put them into action.
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno city council members, community leaders and law enforcement gathered to address the troubling rise in violence on Wednesday night.
The summit brought together at least 75 people with the common goal of creating community solutions to stop the recent bloodshed.
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One of the top concerns is a fallout of the pandemic. Officials say kids have less access to school and community activities and are now left with time on their hands. Some are hanging out on the streets more.
City officials are now working to open some parks and community centers safely to keep teens and young children from turning to violence and crime in the community.
"It's just been really a tragic year in 2020. Just the way we're attacking the COVID crisis and pandemic, we're now starting to develop plans to attack the violence and shootings in our city from the community aspect," said Councilmember Miguel Arias.
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"There's some exciting ideas they have, break-put sessions, small groups and I think what you're going to see is some short term wins and and some long term winds from this session here," said Fresno Deputy Chief Mark Salazar.
City leaders plan to take the top ten ideas from the summit and work within the city budget to try to put them into action.
RELATED: Fresno police see shift in where shootings are happening
