student safety in Main South

"to address the impediments to the safety and well-being of the students who walk to school, who wait at school bus stops, and who attend school in the Main South area"

Councilor Rivera: prostitution in the area of our students walking to school and around schools
"as a parent, that's a concern for me as our students are walking to school"
increase toward the end of the school year and again towards the end of August
"we really need to deal with this issue"
"there is some work being done at the Council level...does pose a serious safety issue for these students"
"I think sometimes things become a norm within an area, but there's no reason why we should be tolerating this in the vicinity of our students"
Casey Starr, Main South CDC
students need to be able to walk to and from school every day safety
"need an immediate and sustainable solution to this"
Mayor: been an issue in Main South for too long
Boone: schools have been a center of activity, caught in the middle: example where "community comes together"
"staunch supporters of the schools"
O'Connell: meeting on Monday morning on this issue
points brought up this evening were brought up at that meeting
question if there is more we can do: surveillance equipment, to cover in a more blanket way
mention of Department of Homeland Security
Claremont students reluctant to go to Boys Club because activity in area
I should note that our representative here tonight from Claremont is nodding; she lives by the Boys Club and agrees that this is an issue in the area.
Mayor says "many meetings to come on this"
"we are on the right track and this is going to be handled"

Note that our student rep adds that students should know that they can anonymously text a send  "TIPWPD" to the number 27463