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Anti-crime activists issue plea to cops, citizens

Section: Community

Laura Maggi

Beginning and ending with a solemn reading of the names of the more than 200 people killed in New Orleans since thousands of citizens took to the streets last year, anti-crime activists asked for more action from city leaders and called on average citizens to help stem the violence on the streets.

Several relatives of murder victims joined the crowd of at least 50 people who attended the news conference and memorial on the steps of City Hall, along with City Councilman James Carter, Police Superintendent Warren Riley and several members of Riley's command staff. Mayor Ray Nagin did not attend, nor did the majority of the City Council.

"It's too late for these victims," said Nakita Shavers, 20, the sister of slain musician Dinerral Shavers. "It's not too late for our city." After her brother's death in December 2006, Shavers joined the group Silence is Violence to urge more people to become involved in anti-crime activities.

The founders of Silence is Violence, created early last year, organized an anti-crime march for Jan. 11, 2007, in reaction to almost daily murders at that time, including the high-profile slayings of Shavers and Helen Hill, a filmmaker killed in her Marigny home.

Ken Foster, one of the group's founders, said he didn't really know either Hill or Shavers, but their deaths prompted him to act. "To survive as a community, we can't wait until things become personal to us," he said.

While more people have become involved during the past year -- for example, forming an estimated 60 new Neighborhood Watch organizations -- Foster stressed that more average citizens should participate. He offered several suggestions on ways to contribute, including attending local neighborhood association meetings and visiting a local school or New Orleans Police Department district station.

Silence is Violence's official projects include musical clinics for young people, anti-violence forums aimed at high school students and nighttime neighborhood walks. Responding to the urgent need for more support staff at the district attorney's office, the group began paying for an administrative assistant for the Violent Offender Unit, which handles homicide cases.

It's unclear whether the group or any amount of activism can help rebuild trust between local citizens and police, which often is broken in New Orleans' most violent neighborhoods. But Baty Landis, one of the group's co-founders, said she has seen positive responses from residents when Silence is Violence members have been out on neighborhood walks with police officers.

"As it evolved, people would start coming out of their houses," Landis said recently.

At the news conference, Landis had mostly positive words for the city's law enforcement agencies, saying most officials seem committed to working with residents.

But some crime victims still have complaints. Jeanette Kelly, who read part of the list of names of the dead, said she recently hasn't been able to get any information from the NOPD homicide unit about her boyfriend, Chris Roberts, who was shot in the chest in the doorway of his apartment building on Esplanade Avenue in June.

The original detective quit the case about two months ago and for weeks nobody would return her calls asking for updates, Kelly said.

"I am just concerned it has been relegated to a cold case," said Kelly, who said she believes people saw the shooting.

Sgt. Joe Narcisse, commander of the NOPD's public information office, said the homicide commander will make sure the detective assigned to Roberts' case quickly calls her.

Kelly and Roberts returned to New Orleans in December 2006, not long before the murder of Hill, who lived just two blocks away from Kelly's Marigny home.

Hill's death galvanized Kelly to participate in last year's crime march. But she never thought the father of her daughter would ever be a victim.

Hearing Roberts' name called out on Friday was a difficult experience, said Kelly, whose daughter is now 18 months old. "You think about a number (of murder victims), but these were all individuals," she said.

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