S.E. side is part of Iowa City, too

Violence in Iowa City's southeast side reached a whole new level last week with the apparent homicide of 64-year-old property owner John E. Versypt.

If anyone had yet to be convinced that some southeastern Iowa City neighborhoods are in serious trouble, this incident clinched it. The shooting - in broad daylight, in a public space, of a man who was trying to maintain his property - shows an utter disregard for human life.

As Iowa City Police Sgt. Troy Kelsay told us this week: “I don't know how you can say this doesn't raise it to another level.”

But with public resources getting ever scarcer, it will take help from the city, non-profit agencies, advocacy groups and neighbors to make these neighborhoods safe.

And it will require a shift in a too-common attitude that this troubled section of town is somehow separate from the community as a whole.

“Our biggest challenge is changing the mindset of everyone living in the community,” Safe Neighborhoods Coalition organizer Henri Harper told us. “The problem right now is everyone is pointing a finger at everyone else.”

Versypt, a retired sheet metal mechanic from Cordova, Ill., owned several units at Broadway Condominiums, 1958 Broadway St., where he was killed last week.

“He was the last person you would ever think anyone would want to hurt,” his wife told a Gazette reporter. “He was very kind. Very generous.”

Yet no one reported gunshots, a fight or disturbance the day Versypt was killed. Neighbors only called police when his body was found in the hallway in Building C.

Who knows whether neighbors honestly didn't hear anything, if they didn't think gunfire was worth a phone call or if they didn't want to snitch.

Iowa City Police say they don't have the resources to be a constant visible presence in trouble spots. It's all they can do to keep up with calls for service.

The recent addition of a crime prevention officer to work with neighborhood watch and other community groups, while a good thing, isn't enough.

Southgate Development President Jody Braverman has said that security cameras have been installed at the complex. Another good move but, again, not enough in itself.

To fight the rising tide of violence in these troubled areas, we have to support groups which work to empower the law-abiding majority of people who live there.

That means more support and resources for service agencies like the Broadway Neighborhood Center, community groups like the Safe Neighborhoods Coalition, neighborhood associations and others.

There is no single, simple solution. But this must be a community effort to fight the violence.