Grim future for Newport
News?

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - "There's a sense of despair and lost hope in this community and we need to figure out why and start working to change it," Elder John Shields said of the streets of Newport News.

He and a small group met in the Pearle Bailey Public Library in the southeast end of Newport News. The members of "Restoring Inner-City Peace" - or R.I.P., are strategizing to reduce crime.

Just as 2008 came to an end, a double shooting at Orcutt Avenue and 35th Street took two teens' lives.

Monday, the Chief of Police told WAVY News 10 the outlook for 2009 is not great.

"I hate to say this but, my predictions for next year, with the economy the way it is and issues in the world the way it is, I expect an increase in crime," Chief James Fox said.

Fox predicted some of the city's younger residents will commit crimes in greater numbers.

He exhaled and said, "We have gangs now. We have a lot of young people that carry guns now. They're my concerns for the future."

An R-I-P founder, Shields said his group will connect young people with local employers.

"...So they could leave the streets and leave the drug-dealing and leave all the things that lead to the murders and the killings," he explained.

Shields said dozens of churches are also on board to reach the city's youth. According to him, "the church has to be a part of this because without God it's not going to work."

And the young people, some are already joining the cause to speak with peers. They say they know what it's like to go astray.

Nicholas Harrison, 20 of Newport News said, "I tried to get things quick. Trying to live easy, but not really living easy. Really making things harder on myself."

Lewis Smith, 22, of Newport News said his message on making wrong choices is simple, "I've been there, done that. It gets you nowhere except locked up. I've been there too."

Smith and Harrison participated in the R.I.P. planning meeting. A passer-by might never guess the two well-dressed, soft-spoken young men had recently spent time in jail. Both said they're ready to keep others from making the mistakes they made.

While the Newport News police department continues to combat crime, the small group is organizing its own battle - to keep the Chief and the community from seeing an increase in criminal activity.

"In all actuality, Chief Fox could be right if we don't do something about it," Shields said.

Chief Fox said that despite conditions that are favorable for higher crime numbers, his department is committed to protecting the people of Newport News. In 2006 and 2007, the department reported a 7 percent reduction in crime. Fox said he expects the numbers from 2008 to show just a 2 percent decrease.