Plea unmistakable: Get involved in problem of youth gun violence

Undersheriff Rod Jett must moonlight as a mind reader.As he began Tuesday morning's news conference on the recent increase in gun violence near local schools, Jett acknowledged one of the biggest challenges with addressing the complex community issue: the cynical sense that little can be done about it.

"I didn't want this to be just another press conference," Jett said.

Just another press conference is about what I expected, all anyone could have reasonably expected, but that's not what I heard. Surrounded by many of his top officers, and flanked by Clark County School District Superintendent Walt Rulffes and representatives of the North Las Vegas Police Department, Henderson Police Department and CCSD Police Department, Jett implored residents to focus on this issue. I heard frustration in Jett's voice as he departed from the usual "tough cop" rhetoric and instead made an emotional plea for assistance to the community at large.

Metro has assigned 30 additional officers to address the violence issue with another 20 scheduled to begin next week, said Jett, speaking on behalf of Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who was in Washington, D.C. Speculation to the contrary, Jett added that he was satisfied Metro had enough investigators in its street gang unit to do the job. The undersheriff also took time to remind the media that - no matter how baggy the pants of the perpetrator - it's not helpful to broad-brush teen violence as "gang-related."

The focus of the news conference ranged from stick-and-whistle police work to the root causes of the violence, and I couldn't help but think how much the department has changed over the years.

Under Sheriff Ralph Lamb and his successor, Sheriff John Moran, there would have been little talk about parental responsibility, after-school programs and cops building bridges with at-risk youth. Reporters would have heard about not tolerating the hoodlum element and getting tough on the street thugs.

On Tuesday, Jett implored parents to engage their children, pull bedroom inspections, monitor their MySpace accounts. In short, to take nothing they do or say for granted.

He also called on long-distance fathers to "reconnect" with their sons. Although Jett said his request was "no commentary on your parenting skills," who was he trying to kid? As a general rule, fathers who don't watch after their children usually watch them go bad from a lack of discipline, guidance and love.

He also put the local gang-banger subculture on notice. His language was professional, but I got the feeling that now would be a good time for some wayward teens to break from street life.

Jett also attempted to move beyond the traditional rhetoric by making a plea to individuals and companies throughout the community. If anyone out there is in a position to help address the issue, this is the right time to step up.

"This is going to have to be a communitywide effort," he said.

For his part, Rulffes noted that none of the recent violence was on school property - "I often talk about how safe schools are" - and chimed in about the importance of parental involvement and having enough after-school activities in place to reduce the potential for problems.

But in a society that's loath to invest in junior high sports and longer school days, he must know the odds of improving the system are long.

There's an overriding truth that's emerging from the latest series. It's this: The bullets are just as deadly whether you live in Summerlin or Green Valley, West Las Vegas or the Red Rock Country Club. Contrary to popular legend, they're not limited to the valley's tough, poor, ethnic neighborhoods.

Although the undersheriff lauded Metro's efforts at everything from boxing programs to gang intervention, I find myself angered by the buck-passing that has gone on in this community when it comes to investing in the futures of all our youth. Cops are supposed to be cops, not social workers, surrogate parents, camp counselors and child psychologists.

But every year police officers and schoolteachers are asked to do more because parents, and society generally, do less and less.

We can't cure this malady. But we can treat it by never quitting on our children, never accepting this insanity as a reality of big city life and never pretending that the bullets fly only in those "other neighborhoods."

• John L. Smith's column, reprinted from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, appears on Thursdays on the Appeal's Opinion page. E-mail him at smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.