Newark Mom Lost 3 Sons To Violence. She’s Helping Her City Fight Back

NEWARK, NJ — When Sonia Rogers stepped to the podium before a crowd of reporters, officials and Newark residents on Wednesday, it took her a moment to begin her speech. But once the bereaved mother began speaking, the words flowed like the tears that ran down her face.

That’s how powerful the memory of her three sons – each lost to gun violence before their 21st birthday – still remains in Rogers’ heart.

“I have seen how violence shows up at our front door, enters our homes, and removes from us what we value the most,” Rogers said, discussing her three sons, who were shot and killed in Newark between 2011 and 2015.

“It may seem sudden, but in fact it gives its signs every day, everywhere,” she said. “It’s in the schools, on the streets while we are at work, on cellphones and at home.”

“We must continue working together to protect our children,” Rogers implored.

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According to Rogers, it takes a village to raise a child. And that’s the philosophy that Newark officials have been taking as they try to change the way the city fights back against violence and views public safety.

Calling on Rogers to help put a face to the tragedies that Newark has experienced in the past decades, officials held a news conference on Wednesday to unveil a new strategic plan to ease crime. The key? Treating violence as a “public health issue.” See the full plan online here.

There are four main parts to the city’s latest plan, which has been launched under the auspices of the Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery (OVPTR):

• “Supporting communities to have an active role in creating public safety”
• “Mobilizing community and law enforcement to focus on hot spots”
• “Shifting the culture to think about trust, healing, and resilience”
• “Investing in the capacity of people and resources to prevent violence”

The OVPTR itself is a symbol of progress, some Newark residents say. Created in June 2020 after weeks of local protests and calls for police reform in the wake of George Floyd’s death, it’s headquartered at the former 1st Precinct of the City of Newark Police Division – where the infamous rioting of 1967 ignited.

The city re-channeled about 5 percent of its policing budget to pay for the OVPTR. Former Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose said at the time there weren’t going to be any layoffs as a result, and that there were no plans to interfere with police staffing levels.

• See Related: Newark Will Take $12M From Police, Reinvest In Social Services

It’s not only police who are involved in the city’s latest plan. Nonprofits, groups and community leaders have been tapped in an attempt to address the root causes of violence, reaching out to local youth and holding peace marches across Newark. Meanwhile, city-employed social workers have graduated and taken the field alongside cops, a significant addition in an area where about one in four calls that police get are for “social intervention.”

• See Related: Newark Cops Rescue Suicidal Teen: 'Hold On, Brother, We Care'
• See Related: Shoeless In A Rainstorm: Newark Cops Assist Boy With Autism
• See Related: Chinese Food Helps Stop Suicide In Newark: 'It's Never Too Late'
  

The new way of thinking includes viewing people as “individuals” – and not only as “products of their environment,” city officials say. That includes considering biological and personal history factors such as age, history of drug abuse, depression, personal beliefs and child maltreatment. It also includes such subjects as relationships with family and friends, community settings and neighborhood dynamics, and societal and cultural norms that drive attitudes.

Police have also been adding patrols in neighborhoods with a “high concentration of crime” and have boosted the number of Shooting Response Team and Criminal Intel personnel. In addition, illegal guns continue to be seized across the city. In July 2022, Newark authorities announced that more than 400 illegal firearms had been confiscated so far that year, a 33 percent increase in recovered firearms over the same period in 2021.

Newark public safety officials say the new approach to crime fighting been paying off. The city’s homicide rate is the lowest it has been in nearly six decades, with 50 homicides reported in 2022 – the smallest number since 1963. Read More: Newark Saw Less Homicides And Violent Crime In 2022, Officials Say

But there is still a lot of work to be done to make sure that Rogers’ tragic story becomes a thing of the past in Newark, officials say.

Even though several criminal justice experts have pointed to the “groundbreaking success” of Newark’s new approach to policing, the violence – when it happens – is still a “collectively felt trauma” for those neighborhoods, local organizers previously told Patch.

And nobody knows that better than a mother who has lost three children.

“To walk, to talk, to get up every day is the struggle of my life,” Rogers said Wednesday, as tears welled in the eyes of many people in the crowd. “I can never, ever see my children again.”

But that doesn’t mean she won’t be fighting for peace in their names, Rogers added, lending support to Newark officials at this week's news conference.

“This walk that we’re trying to walk, I will walk with you,” she said. “I’m not standing here for sympathy. I’m not standing here for your empathy. I’m standing here for every Black mother in this city.”

Want to learn more about Newark’s new approach to public safety? Catch up with some recent articles below.

• Read More: Dreams Of Peace Endure In Newark Amid Wave Of Gun Violence
• Read More: 'Peace Walk' Against Gun Violence Unites Thousands In Newark
• Read More: Healing From Violence: Newark Youth Find Refuge At 'The Hubb'
• Read More: Newark Commits $19M To Help Curb Violence In The City
• Read More: Wave Of New Police Officers Meet Their Community In Newark (VIDEO)

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