TACOMA, Wash. — Candace Wesley has been working for decades to bring solutions to underlying issues that may lead to crime.
She still has fond memories of her time working with the Northwest Leadership Foundation (NLF), an organization that provided wraparound services such as youth development to Tacoma’s children.
“That was the most elite team in the city of Tacoma,” Wesley recalls.
The organization was established in 1989, the same year of the infamous Ash Street shootout, where gang members in Tacoma’s Hilltop got into a shootout with several United States Army Rangers in the streets.
The incident, along with a rising homicide rate in the following years, led to calls for the city to take action.
Incoming Councilmember Kiara Daniels grew up in Tacoma, and still remembers the violence that gripped the city.
But she also remembers the actions Tacoma took to stop it.
“We had an influx of policing at that point, which we’ve been scrutinized over, and I think you’ve seen the scrutiny over that, but we also had an uptick in community services and community programs for youth,” Daniels said.
In the beginning, Wesley said community work made a real impact. But as time went on, things began to unravel.
“What happens is, when you have something that is working, instead of us coming together collectively, and strengthening something that is working, you start to get a lot of spinoffs and things start to become scattered,” Wesley explained.
Wesley said the situation inevitably led to less funding to go around. Before getting into politics, Daniels worked in community service and said she felt the impact of less funding firsthand, along with a lowered sense of urgency.
“I started working at NLF almost ten years ago, at the tail end of what we saw as funding for youth,” Daniels said. “One of the things that I remember is that every year, the funding was challenged because it wasn’t the main event anymore. It wasn’t the most important thing to fund.”
But now crime is back on the rise, and Daniels is concerned that without the focused investment into community-led initiatives, Tacoma may not be able to effectively fight back.
“We can’t be effective if we don’t take care of our people,” Daniels said. “We can try to get to it from harsher punishments, but when you are trying to survive, none of that matters. So we need to help people not only survive but thrive in Tacoma.”