Hopewell News

The Hopewell March Against Crime organization (HMAC) will sponsor the next community march scheduled to take place on May 1, beginning at 10 a.m. and lasting until 2 p.m.
It is dedicated to the memory of crime victims: Shawn Myrick, Luke Williams, Koury "C Brown" Calvin, Kashif "Kash" Temple, William Gill, Antoine Perry, Eric Walden, Shaun "Mook" Studivant and Antonio "LJ" Spain."
Hopewell Mayor Brenda Pelham hosted a community action gathering at the Appomattox Regional Library last Saturday. The meeting was attended by concerned citizens, volunteers, neighborhood watch coordinators, police officers, the Chief of Police.
After a briefing on crime statistics and new police strategies by Chief Martin (covered in Tuesday's edition of the Hopewell News), Mayor Pelham discussed the particulars of Hopewell's upcoming March Against Crime.
She began by saying that Prince George is conducting a Walk Against Drugs, and that Petersburg is hosting their Walk Against Crime on or near the same date as Hopewell's march (May 1). "If we can do this on the same day ... I think that would be a greater impact to let [criminals] know that we won't tolerate it," said Pelham. Continuing, she stated that many people might see the marches against crime as "snitching." But, she explained, it is not.
"As citizens, we have to report," she said. "I looked at the word 'crime' and came up with 'Citizens Reporting Initiates Much Evidence (C.R.I.M.E.).' And that's what 'CRIME' could stand for, because if we don't talk to the police ... they can never solve any problems," said Pelham. "We want all crimes solved. We don't want them to happen, but if they do, then we want them solved."
The Mayor stressed that important messages to be spread by the Hopewell March Against Crime is that crime can and will lead to incarceration that can take up the majority of a person's life. One of the citizen volunteers participating was such an individual. In his fifties, he now volunteers his time to help steer youths away from the path he took, a path that evaporated away much of his adult life.
Another message to be relayed is that once someone enters the criminal justice system and stacks up a record of arrests and convictions, even after time is served, upon release, that person will have a hard time finding a good paying job. Pelham said, "You have a difficulty getting a job. That's the biggest thing, when you have a felony on your record. They come to me every day... I wish I had jobs to give. We have to get the word out to young people not to go down that route so they don't have to be in that predicament."
Currently, the projected route for the march begins at Carter G. Woodson Middle School and continues down to Arlington Road, making a right at the funeral home and the Elks club, continuing down High Street, and then returning to Carter G. Woodson for an outdoor program. "At that point," said Pelham, "it would be like a field day or something with different apparatuses for the kids to play on and start a talk. Basically having the Chief of Police and tables with neighborhood watch."
This would be similar to the National Night Out event hosted at Merner Field several years ago, with the goal in mind of recruiting more volunteers and members of the neighborhood watches and other activities or programs (such as Police Activities Leagues (PALS)).
Fighting crime bears a striking resemblance to fighting a conventional war. In war, it is of paramount importance to keep pressing into the enemy, especially when they are off balance. With the crime statistics presented by Chief Martin showing that major crime in Hopewell has declined over the last year, citizens and police continuing to press the momentum against crime, on all fronts is essential to significantly reduce it further.
Hopewell's fronts against crime include new community police strategies, enforcing an enhanced curfew, the PALS program and this latest initiative, Hopewell's March Against Crime. For more information on how you can participate or become involved, contact your local neighborhood watch, city council or police department.