12/10/2023 0 Comments New orleans social sceneAfter her father was killed in New Orleans in 2000, she made it her mission to help victims’ families navigate the criminal legal system and cope with loss. Jackson responded to the scenes as part of the New Orleans Office of Gun Violence Prevention as a victim advocate, while Baptiste and Paige represented the Silence is Violence organization – Jackson is its executive director.įor her, this work is deeply personal. Leslie Gamboni for the Gulf States Newsroom Tamara Jackson speaks to Jovanna Baptiste and Isiah Paige as they stand across the street from a homicide scene on April 22, 2022, in New Orleans. Aside from her role with the city, Jackson is also the executive director of Silence is Violence, a community organization that promotes peace in New Orleans. “ services are in line with offering support and addressing the needs of the victims and their families, where the police department is more focused on the investigation,” Jackson said.Īlthough the office is new, Jackson has been steeped in this work for nearly two decades. Part of her job is to respond to homicides with a community focus, taking a public health, prevention and intervention approach to try to prevent recurring violence. In an effort to decrease gun-related murders in New Orleans, Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration created the Office of Gun Violence Prevention – where Jackson works now – in 2021. For each one of those people, there’s a whole community left behind trying to heal - and organizations working to find solutions to disrupt the cycle of violence. Law enforcement reported more than 500 people were killed in New Orleans, Birmingham and Jackson, Mississippi, combined in 2021 - most caused by gun violence. The Crescent City isn’t the only one in the Gulf South contending with a spike in homicides. Tamara Jackson was at the scene as part of the New Orleans Office of Gun Violence Prevention as a victim advocate. Leslie Gamboni for the Gulf States Newsroom New Orleans Police respond to a homicide scene on April 22, 2022. “I’m not sure what is happening, but New Orleans tends to spiral out of control where we’re seeing an insurgence of shootings and homicides happening,” said Jackson, a New Orleans native. This particular weekend, she responded to at least six homicides across the city. Jackson usually gets to as many homicides as she can in a day, with the purpose of offering the victim’s families support to try to curb the cycle of violence. “I’m not sure where your keys are at, but I can go back in the scene and ask.” “This is all he had in his pockets,” Jackson told her. She immediately turns to Jackson for help. She’s looking for the keys to her vehicle, which was tied up in the crime scene. In this case, the victim’s girlfriend digs through a small manila folder of her boyfriend’s belongings. Jackson guides the victims’ families as they try to cope with the loss, and she helps them deal with questions - both big and small. As a victim’s services advocate, she is known within the community - she was at the Oakmont Apartments the day before, responding to another homicide. She gets out of her black SUV, walks right up to the police tape and immediately greets the victim’s family - offering them resources and support. She’s one of the first people to arrive at the apartment complex, alongside NOPD officers. Tamara Jackson hears about the shooting via police dispatch and drives directly to the scene. “We been telling them to shut this down and board this up,” Newman said. Recent New Orleans Police Department call logs back up that claim. Windows in the apartment complex are boarded up, and bags of garbage and debris pile up nearby, causing the dumpster to overflow.īut people still live at and regularly visit this apartment complex many say it has become a magnet for crime. Neighbors say the Oakmont Apartments, where the shooting happened, have been abandoned since Hurricane Ida struck southeast Louisiana in August, leaving the residents without a property manager. His girlfriend and mother are especially distraught, looking for answers from police on the scene. Newman consoles the man’s girlfriend, who said she just talked to him a few hours before his death. “It’s just sad,” said Tamika Newman, a family member of the victim.“Everybody wanna be a gangster.” No one at the scene knows who did it.Īs first responders slowly appear at the homicide scene, the victim’s family and friends - his mother, his girlfriend and his community - line up behind bright yellow police tape, confused and grieving. It’s a muggy, spring afternoon in Algiers, a neighborhood on New Orleans’ west bank, and a Black man has been shot and left dead in his car in front of a dilapidated apartment complex.
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