ENLIST IN WAR AGAINST VIOLENT CRIME

THE HOMICIDE rate in Memphis is rising again, after an encouraging period
of decline in the mid-1990s. Violence against and by young people is
especially heartbreaking; 19 Memphians under the age of 18 - including 14
who had not even reached their teens - were murdered last year.

This plague afflicts the entire Mid-South community, not just the city or
certain neighborhoods in it. Violent crime impedes regional economic
development, causes citizens to feel as if they are under siege in their
homes, can create a sense of hopelessness among young people, and extracts
a cruel tax - public and private - in lives as well as money.

Expecting law enforcement agencies and elected officials to "do something"
about crime is as futile as it is passive. Crime is a community problem
that requires a collective response.

An effective counterattack demands the best efforts of businesses,
churches, schools and unversities, health and welfare agencies, charities
and community groups, and most of all public-spirited citizens. Several
programs - some old, some new - provide opportunities for meaningful
citizen participation in Memphis's war on crime.

Memphis police clear about four of every five homicides; the nationwide
rate is about three of five. Despite that relatively impressive
performance, 33 of the city's 162 homicides last year are unsolved.

Police freely concede the difference between closing a case and having it
languish in the files often is not brilliant detective work, but rather
tips from citizens, many of them anonymous. In the words of a veteran
investigator: "Someone always knows something."

If you know something about a homicide, you can call Memphis police
directly at 545-5300. If you prefer not to do so, for whatever reason, you
can call Crime Stoppers at 528-CASH; you might qualify for a $1,000 reward.

Even more important than responding to crime after it occurs is preventing
it. Participation in a Neighborhood Watch program is a time-tested way of
doing that.

Several newer initiatives, patterned after successful efforts in other
cities, have begun in Memphis. They aim to harness the power of an engaged,
fed-up community to address many of the precursors of homicide: drug
trafficking, gang activity and illegal proliferation of handguns among
people who aren't supposed to have them.

One of the most promising of these initiatives is the Juvenile Violence
Abatement Project, launched last summer by Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton
and Police Director Walter Crews amid a spate of fatal shootings of young
people in the city. The program seeks to educate young people, their
parents and other adults about ways to prevent violence and drug abuse from
snuffing out young lives prematurely.

Among other activities, speakers go into schools to tell students of the
need to report suspicious activity among their peers that could erupt into
violence if it is not checked. For more information about the project, call
327-5827.

Citizens' cooperation with law enforcement agencies is not a matter of
"ratting." It is, instead, a way of combating terrorism, of an indigenous
rather than external sort, and of protecting young people. What is more
important?