Chattanooga residents sound-off on VRI debate

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee(WDEF) – While District Attorney General Neal Pinkston and Chattanooga city leaders continue to disagree on the effectiveness of the Violence Reduction Initiative, residents who love in crime ridden areas are voicing their opinions about the VRI.

For two days straight, all the attention has been on politicians who have been arguing back and forth about whether or not the VRI is actually working, News 12 shifted the attention to people who are relying on the VRI to reduce violent crime.

The search for opinions and reactions to the VRI debate began at Bears Barber Shop in Alton Park. Inside, News 12 met Larry High and Eddie Ayers. Both men have spent most of their adult lives in Chattanooga and were both aware of the violent crimes in places like Alton Park, East Lake  and East Chattanooga.

“I’ve been here 46 years this month and I’ve never in my life in the 46 years see as many ambulances and police cars rushing by here daily. Someone got shot or something has really happened in this community,” High said.

News 12 asked for their opinions on whether or not the VRI is working to decrease violence.

“Really, I cant see where it has improved because daily or nightly, someone is getting hurt or getting shot, so that’s why I say I can’t see it improving at all,” Ayers said.

“We have to go at it from a different angle because basically what I see, the angle that we’re going at now is not working,” High said.

News 12 left the barber shop and began combing various areas of Alton Park and East Lake to talk to others on about the issue but no one would comment on camera. Close to a dozen residents told News 12 they feared retaliation from gang members should they speak on camera or even be seen talking to a reporter. Off camera they told News 12 the VRI needs to be  improved.

News 12 caught up with Police Chief Fred Fletcher at a city event on the campus of UTC.  When asked about the VRI, he said  the program is working and that people he’s talked to want it.

“The underlying strategy behind VRI is exactly what folks I met with in communities like Alton Park asked for; which was to treat people who cause the most disorder and the most crime and violence very seriously with law enforcement responses and to not harass, saturate or otherwise overly police at-risk neighborhoods,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher went on to explain that more people need to be educated about the focused deterrence of VRI so that they get an actual understanding of how it works to reduce violent crime.

Earlier in the week, District Attorney General Neal Pinkston criticized city officials who support the VRI by saying the initiative is not working. He also went on to say he plans to start his own anti-gang unit to crack down on violent offenders who terrorize the streets.

News 12 spoke to Steven Eberhard who personally knows gang members through his own years of being on streets. He said for Pinkston’s plan to work, Pinkston must first get the right people who know the streets as well as the gangsters who are committing the violent crimes.

“He comes out best hiring some people that are from the street versus what the city is doing. We’re talking about educated people who have been to school all their lives; they never had a taste of living this kind of life so without that, I don’t think it would work,” Eberhardt said.