Traffic barrel was used for traffic control in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood.
Matchu Williams
The Mt. According to Matchu Williams (Chair of the Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association.
Williams noticed a growing concern among his neighbors when the shootings increased from one to five to six per month, even during the day.
Williams stated that in one night in August, Williams counted five shootings consecutively in one week.
Nadine Salma, another resident of Mt. Scott-Arleta resident Nadine Salama also felt the effects from gun violence.
Salama and her daughter, aged 8, had to get out of their windows and crawl into the bathroom. Salama then put her daughter in a bathtub. Salama was not hit by bullets.
It sounded like a war zone, said Salama.
A car fleeing the scene crashed into Salamas’ apartment one night after the shooting.
Salama said that just by watching their fear and fleeing, we got the idea that if there was a legal way to place obstacles around the park, fleeing vehicles wouldn’t want to go down residential streets.
Salama and Williams began to communicate with each other and their neighbors. They exchanged notes and gathered data that they could present to city officials to request help.
We met with Bureau of Civic LifeThey are Community design team helps prevent crimeWilliams said so. He said that we asked him what we could do to make it less attractive for these instances to happen.
Working closely alongside Jo Ann Hardesty (Portland Commissioner), Williams, and other neighborhood association members A pilot program was createdThis was from October 2021 to December 2021. This period saw shootings drop by more than half in the neighborhood, but remain relatively constant in other parts of the city.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation maintains 18 orange traffic barrels as the most prominent symbol of these efforts.
Other neighborhood improvements were made by the pilot program, such as lighting repairs at Mt. Scott Park and patrols of park rangers. Williams said that some unused parking areas were causing problems were now gated. The Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association also partnered Green Tulip Preschool, where Salama is the director, and Dunja Marcum (the program director at Vibe Portland), to put on community-building activities in Mt. Scott Park.
Although the pilot program did produce some results, it’s too early to make a direct causal link between these efforts with the decrease in gun violence.
Williams believes the community feels safer today. Williams is looking into adding safety improvements such as speed bumps or concrete planters to busy streets.
Williams stated that we will continue to collect data so we can see whether a permanent investment in the streetscape or infrastructure in the community is logical and supports the current state of affairs.
Click the play button to hear more of the Think Out Louds conversation featuring Nadine Salma, Dunja Marcum, and Matchu Williams.