TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo has had 62 homicides in 2022, the second deadliest year alongside 2020. In 2021, Toledo had 70 homicides.
Current and former city leaders think one way to solve the problem is to call on neighborhood groups. Many may know them as block watches, but some local leaders argue that neighborhood association or neighborhood coalition is a better term.
Toledo City Council is looking at trying to re-establish these community programs and bring more awareness to them through a resolution introduced by council members George Sarantou and Theresa Morris.
"All of the crime that is happening, it's ridiculous. It's unheard of, the age that our children are dying," Alicia Smith, the executive director of the community improvement organization Junction Coalition, said.
West Toledo Neighborhood Association founder Tina Scott painted a similarly bleak picture of the city's struggle with violent crime. She said a number of factors play into rising homicide numbers over the years.
"The streets, everything that pertains to crime, blight neighborhoods, etc. There's so much related to crime, it just doesn't stop," Scott said.
Groups like the Junction Coalition and the West Toledo Neighborhood Association may work more closely with the city and other local leaders in the future because a foursome of former mayors, part of the Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods, believe one of the answers to reducing the violence is by turning to community action for help.
"We've got circles and verses here, we host clinics for housing, try to tackle the barriers that create the issues, entrepreneurship, all those things are ways to curb violence by eliminating barriers," David Ross, a Junction Coalition community advocate, said.
Both groups spend their time and energy on being community-focused, and proactive instead of reactive.
Smith said city leaders having their backs will help their cause as well.
"We are looking forward to working with our politicians, our pastors, our community, but nothing will be successful without us first listening to one another, creating a plan, and then acting," Smith said.
Scott said community action can only do so much without proper funding.
"It would help out tremendously if we could obtain some money through grant programs so that we can move forward with our events and clean-ups," Scott said.
Both Smith and Scott are hoping council and the Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods will continue to help raise awareness and get more people involved. Council is expected to vote on the resolution on Dec. 20.