CONTACTS:

Steve Palackdharry

Communications Manager

Southwest Solutions

313.297.1374

Bill O’Brien

Director of Community Partnerships

Southwest Solutions

313.841.8900 x.2339

—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—

Robert Bobb, Chief Warren Evans and Chief Roderick Grimes Answer Tough Questions at Youth Forum in Southwest Detroit

DETROIT, October 1, 2009 —— Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, Detroit Chief Warren Evans, and DPS Police Chief Roderick Grimes appeared together and answered serious questions from teen activists about school and community safety at a special youth forum called “Vigilance and Violence.”

More than 300 young people from schools and organizations across Detroit attended the event at Western International High School in southwest Detroit. The event was facilitated by Youth Voice, a grassroots organizing effort designed to give young people a greater voice in the city.

The teen activists pressed the police chiefs and Robert Bobb on four issues: police response, police reporting, security systems, and combating the culture of violence. The activists were determined to secure specific strategies and commitments from the three authorities to make the schools a safe environment to learn.

The youth won many agreements from the three authorities:

1.    A commitment from Robert Bobb to fund in-school suspension in all Detroit Public Schools

2.    A commitment from Chief Roderick Grimes to meet with Youth Voice students every nine weeks to review their report card on safety in their schools.

3.    A commitment from Robert Bobb to allow student input in writing the student code of conduct

4.    A commitment from Robert Bobb to incorporate Southwest Counseling Solutions’ Youth Prevention programs in middle and high schools

5.    A commitment from Warren Evans and Roderick Grimes to immediately relay safety alerts at public schools to charter, private and Catholic schools in the area

6.    A commitment from Chief Evans and Chief Grimes to attend a follow up meeting with the youth

The youth could not secure commitments on three issues:

1.    A new code of rules to clarify the jurisdiction of DPS police and DPD police

2.    A uniform phone number for DPS and DPD emergency calls

3.    A guaranteed five-minute police response to school emergencies

“Although we did not get everything we wanted, this was a very successful event,” said Bill O’Brien, director of community partnerships at Southwest Solutions. “We look forward to followup meetings and greater collaboration among the police, youth and school officials to create a safer and more learning-conducive school environment.”

“As youth, one of the discouraging and disheartening is that when we speak out nobody listens,” said Edgar Gomez, one of the leaders of Youth Voice, to audience at the end of the forum. Edgar then spoke directly to the three authorities: “We hope to continue our conversations with you and bring to fruition these solutions.”