Grandmother of Child Gun Victim Calls for City Cameras in High Crime Areas, Mayor Schember Responds
The grandmother of the 7-year-old Erie boy killed by gun violence is calling on the city of Erie to install video cameras in high crime neighborhoods.
At the funeral for Antonio "ESPN" Yarger Jr. over the weekend, where everyone came dressed as super heroes, Yarger's grandmother used part of her remarks to call out Mayor Joe Schember by name, saying he could to more to protect Erie's families.
She said since the mayor and city officials know where the high crime areas are, she said they should install closed circuit tv cameras there.
Mayor Schember, who attended the funeral, told Erie News Now that he appreciated her remarks and said his staff is open to the idea, but would want neighborhood input before taking action. "Nothing she talked about bothered me in any way, in fact I gave her a hug as she left the stage to thank her for her comments and everything, we're certainly open to looking at things," Mayor Schember said. "I think we need to have a lot of conversation, we need a lot of input from police and residents where we're thinking of putting something, there's a lot of work still to be done."