A youth-organized anti-violence event on the Peoria Riverfront today gathered about 100 people. The event was organized by a group consisting largely of 16, 17 and 18-year-old Richwoods High School students and college Freshmen calling themselves the Coalition of Young Minds.
The chant from the Gateway Building to Liberty Park near the River Station was “Silence the Violence.”
Peoria Police Chief Jerry Mitchell and seven other members of the department attended the Liberty Park rally, as did Mayor Jim Ardis and District 150 Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat. Salvation Army volunteers were also on hand to provide water to combat the heat.
Unique Worthy helped organized the event. She says they wanted people to walk away feeling empowered and informed. “We want them to know that they can speak out in their community, that they have the backing of their community heads, like our police chief Jerry Mitchell, the mayor, our superintendent. We want people to understand that you can speak out to these people, they are not unreachable.”
The Q-and-A session included what to do when pulled over by police and why. The Chief, and other members of the law enforcement community talked about their lives: where they grew-up, their children and grandchildren.
Peoria Police Chief Jerry Mitchell says it was great to get to talk with the group like he talks with his own 17-year-old daughter. “I hope to see these kids go back to the groups they come from, the neighborhoods they come from and the schools they come from and share what happened here today. And talk about, ‘Hey I met 7 different officers, all different walks of life, all different ranks and they are all pretty down to earth people and they are just like we are and they answered a bunch of questions.’”
One of the detectives who spoke has a daughter who helped organize the event. Chief Mitchell says his daughter would have been there, but was on a college visit.
Chief Mitchell says such events can go a long way to highlight the human aspect of police/community relations