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Keeping north Tulsa's grocery store safe from crime.
Valentine’s Day was a perfect setting for a crowd of city officials and concerned citizens to come out and show their love and support for the newly opened and recently robbed Gateway Market at East Pine Street and North Peoria Avenue. On Saturday, Feb. 6, a man armed with a semi-automatic handgun robbed the store less than a month after its grand opening.
Vacant for years after Albertsons pulled up stakes, the location was nearly written off. But the tide began to turn when local businessman Antonio Perez, owner of several Las Americas stores, decided to bring a convenient shopping option back to the area. Many scoffed that the area could not sustain such a business and that it would be a target for crime. Those early assumptions were only cemented further when news of the robbery surfaced.
In a smart move, both ethically and politically, the mayor and several city councilors stepped up and showed immediate concern.
If we let these new businesses be intimidated by the threat of crime, the entrepreneurial spirit in that area and others will be completely crushed. Mayor Dewey Bartlett and councilor Jack Henderson reiterated their pledge to keep the area moving in the right direction and to bring the criminal in question to justice. With several good descriptions and surveillance imagery, the latter may be possible. But the former, the bigger picture, is where the real problems and solutions reside.
One a side note, it was great to see Hispanic, African-American and Caucasian politicians and business leaders joining together to get something done and make a statement in unison. I would like to see more of this and not just in response to a crime. I am all for reactive unity, but that’s expected. It’s more proactive unity that will really push this city into the future.
