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On Wednesday, Ward 7 Councilwoman Jannie Thomas hosted a nonviolence symposium at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center based on crime, violence and to reflect on multiple homicide cases within the city that turned cold.

The symposium featured many elected officials from Dallas County Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn to members of the Selma City Council, including Dallas County Sheriff Michael Granthum. Selma Police Chief Kenta Fulford was also there, among many other speakers.

Pastor Coley C. Chestnut of Fresh Anointing House of Worship led the event, which started with a prayer and was followed by opening remarks from Selma City Council President Warren Billy Young. 

“Crime and violence is not just a problem for one,” Young said. “It is not just a problem for me.  It is a problem for all of us. We should subscribe to the belief that when a brother and sister seldom are struggling with an act of pride. We all are struggling with an act of pride. While it might be on your street today, it may be on mine later that day.”

Young went on to tell the crowd about Friday night leading into Saturday morning, saying that he and Councilwoman Thomas saw another senseless act of violence in the Selma community.

“There’s one thing to look at it in the newspaper or on the news,” Young said. “But, it’s another thing when you see somebody’s loved one laying in the road with a sheet over them. These are the images that will stick to you for the rest of your life that you’ve ever seen. One of the saddest things that I have ever seen in my life was seeing family members coming there to view their relative shot in the middle of the road. That’s not how life is supposed to be for us.”

Young said that night, Selma PD’s Detective Javonte Benjamin was on the scene, working with the family and trying to solve the crime. He said that while Benjamin was out there trying to find the perpetrators of the incident, he also stepped in as a counselor to the family, consoling them moments after the devastating news that their loved one passed away.

“We want this to be a type of event where there are not just words, but we want to try to come out with some type of solution because there have been far too many words. There has been too much talk and not enough positive action,” he said.

U.S. Attorney Andrew D. Arrington of Alabama’s Southern District spoke to the crowd as well. He told the public that federal court will soon take place in Selma after the renovation process of the Federal courthouse in the city is complete. 

Arrington said the courthouse will provide services to the public that involve addressing gun and violent crimes federally. 

“One thing that I have been pushing here recently is trying to get the community aware that there are options for people to report violence and crimes of violence to law enforcement in ways that are safe,” Arrington said.

Arrington spoke to the public about an app that is run through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) called “Report It.” He said citizens who see something and want to say something can download it on their phones. They can discreetly report gun crimes and gun violence directly to ATF.

“Too many of our shootings here in Selma involve people who know who is doing the shootings, but they are afraid to talk,” Arrington said. “So, this is something that will empower the community to give law enforcement that information so that we can solve these crimes.”

Like Arrington, District Attorney Robert Turner Jr. of the Fourth Judicial Circuit District of Alabama made remarks on gun violence as well and he introduced the public to his latest project called Project Zero. 

“Project Zero is going to be the official violence prevention and accountability initiative that we are launching from our office,” Turner said. “In our office, we cover Bibb, Dallas, Hale, Perry and Wilcox counties and the vision for the project is simple but is powerful. We want zero murders, zero rapes and zero firearm related incidents. Not reduced numbers, not down from last year but zero. A lot of people call that as being overly ambitious, but we are referring to this as something that should be considered non-negotiable in our communities because if we set the bars low, the results that we often get are low end results. But if we set the bar high, then hopefully we can see some changed results.”

Turner said the three pillars that lie within Project Zero are accountability, intervention and partnership. 

“On our end, we promised swift, fair prosecution of violent offenders with no tolerance, repeat shooters and abusers. The conversations that we have had among each other and that we have even had with the judiciary is that we have been conducting research and doing analysis on certain cases. We have to do a better job as prosecutors, but also on the judicial level understand that when we request a bond to be revoked, or that probation to be revoked, it’s not because we want everybody to go away, it’s because we can’t have the same dog biting new citizens over and over again.”

Turner said with the intervention portion of the project, he said he wants his office to do a better job of working with schools, churches, coaches and community mentors so that they can try to stop the violence before it starts. Involving the partnership aspect of the project, Turner said law enforcement alone cannot fix the crime and the violence issue, being that it has taken generations to form.  

Through Project Zero, Turner said they will deploy trained prosecutors and some of them will focus on strictly violent crimes. He said they also want to create a cold case task force that revisits unsolved murders, while bringing closure to families among several other initiatives to stop the violence and the senseless killing. 

Central Alabama CrimeStoppers Director Ray Wagoner spoke at the event as well about gun violence and through his speech, he urges citizens to call their anonymous tip line at 334-215-STOP. 

Wagoner said if citizens see or hear anything within the Selma community, he wants them to not fear and to know that all calls and information given to the Alabama CrimeStoppers hotline remains confidential. He said they do not ask the caller’s name or any personal information associated with the person calling and that they are only concerned with the tip given to help solve a crime. 

During the event, there was also a Q&A session for the citizens to ask their questions surrounding gun violence. The session soon after led to Councilwoman Thomas speaking about her own experience and detailing an incident that involved losing a friend to gun violence. She also explained how the residents in her ward fear for their safety.

Closing out the end of the event, Thomas thanked everyone for coming out and she said she wants this event to keep growing bigger and bigger even if it moves into other wards. 

“Since we are the community that has the gun violence, we need to be working. We need to be making this event known that gun violence and crime is affecting our community,” Thomas said.