Rapid City South Dakota is in the 36th percentile for safety, meaning 64% of cities are safer and 36% of cities are more dangerous. As of June 1st, 2021, a crime occurs every three hours within the city limits.
In one Rapid City neighborhood, families and children, as young as under the age of ten, have decided that they have had it with the violence. After a series of gunshots rang out through the neighborhood last Thursday morning, they have come together to march with a unified message.
According to 11-year-old Mattayah Currey, "There are kids that want to play outside so they should stop,”
Last Thursday morning, families off Maple Avenue were abruptly awakened by the sound of gunshots being fired. Fortunately, no one was injured but it turns out that it is an all-too-familiar sound.
As quoted by a nine-year-old named Melody, "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night hearing gunshots and people screaming,”
The Community Engagement Coordinator for the Rapid City Police Department, Tyler Read, said, "When the neighborhood, they see what’s going on and when they decide they’ve had enough, they decide they don’t want this around their kids anymore, the tables will turn and things will change,”
Drugs and weapons have been reported in the area for years, so much so that in 2018 the Rapid City Police Department put a satellite office into the Knollwood Townhouse Apartments. According to Tyler Read, there has been an uptick in violence in the last couple of months.
Drugs and weapons prevail in the area and have for years. In 2018, the Rapid City Police Department created a satellite office within the Knollwood Townhouse Apartments to cultivate better safety measures. That’s where Tyler Read spends his time, connecting with families in the neighborhood.
Last Friday the community touted signs and marched for the changes that they want to see, showing that they have had enough and are ready to begin healing.
Sources:
https://www.newscenter1.tv/weve-had-it-with-the-violence-rapid-city-neighborhood-marches-for-peace/