“Traffick Jam™” Workshop to Build Awareness of Gun Trafficking
May 1st, 2010
What is a Traffick Jam? Simply put, it is a community awareness event that teaches youth and adults how to keep illegal guns out of our community. More specifically, Traffick Jam™ is a multi-media, interactive workshop developed by Citizens for Safety, law enforcement professionals, and community advocates to raise awareness of the “Iron Pipeline” that supplies guns used in crime. Workshops bring community residents, elected officials and law enforcement together to learn how police track crime guns, where they come from, how loopholes in the law protect traffickers, and what we can do right now to make our cities safer.
Citizens for Safety is coming to Milwaukee on June 2nd to hold two Traffick Jam Community Workshops targeting youth leaders and community stakeholders. Citizens for Safety is working with Safe & Sound, the office of Mayor Tom Barrett and the Milwaukee Police Department to organize Traffick Jam for Milwaukee’s youth and adult leaders. Planning is underway involving: professionals from Safe & Sound’s Community Partners and Safe Place programs; Terry Perry, the Health Department’s Office of Violence Prevention Manager; and Bill Morales, Regional Coordinator of Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns. All have years of experience working to prevent illegal guns from hitting the streets of Milwaukee.
Milwaukee citizens are largely unaware of the role gun trafficking plays in urban gun crime. Moreover, neighborhood groups actively engaged in educational, youth outreach and community improvement projects lack a unified approach to curb gun violence. Just a quick review of the statistics reveals the importance of the issue of illegal guns according the Citizens for Safety:
- Violence committed with illegally obtained guns is the leading cause of death for African American males ages 12-24
- Illegally obtained guns are used in a majority of gun crimes, traumatizing communities
- Public lacks awareness of trafficking as a contributing factor in urban crime
- Police-community relations are strained
- No sustainable grassroots coalition exists to support policy solutions
The leadership training will prepare Milwaukee’s youth and community leaders to conduct the “Where did the gun come from?” community action campaign. These campaigns will be adapted to the needs and concerns of Milwaukee. The training seeks to raise awareness of the way gun trafficking fuels Milwaukee gun violence, with a particular focus on the role of straw purchasing. It will unite community organizations, city officials and law enforcement behind a coordinated effort to reduce trafficking and straw purchasing, and lastly, it will mobilize grassroots support for local, state and federal solutions. The objectives of the workshops are multifaceted:
- Create opportunities to unite young people with Milwaukee police and other City officials in constructive dialogues about ways to combat illegal gun trafficking
- Provide comprehensive information about gun trafficking and practical solutions
- Equip youth and adults with the tools they need to be effective spokespeople and leaders in the campaign against trafficking
- Lay the groundwork for youth and adult leaders to work with peers and local officials to develop a campaign to reduce straw purchasing
At the conclusion of the project, Milwaukee will have a cadre of youth and adult leaders trained to coordinate and sustain efforts to reduce gun trafficking by doing the following:
- Plan Traffick Jam workshops to seed, revitalize and support efforts to curb gun trafficking
- Carry the “Where did the gun come from?” message and information about gun trafficking to peers, community residents, the general public and the media
- Work cooperatively with city officials, police and community residents
- Strengthen and expand a citywide coalition to support policies and programs to curb gun trafficking
Traffick Jam workshops and the “Where did the gun come from?” campaign are catalysts designed to increase neighborhood-level advocacy to reduce gun violence caused with illegally trafficked guns. We hope you can join our youth and community leaders in this effort to make Milwaukee streets safer.
Related JSOnline Article: Daley, other mayors call for action against gun violence, trafficking
By Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel, Posted: April 27, 2010
