PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria says he is going to try and use every positive resource possible to try and put a stop to ongoing shooting and violence in the city.
Echevarria — who says he is the son of a pastor — says one way he will do that is by continuing to engage with the religious community.
“The churches wants to unite together and do a massive fast or prayer for the city,” said Echevarria. “Pick a day, push it out there, almost like a corporate fast that a lot of churches would do.”
Meanwhile, Echevarria says he and staff will go door-to-door, hold resource fairs, and use every way he can think of to try and help.
Echevarria says there may be one very important resource yet to be deployed in the battle against violence in the city: women.
“We want to talk to the ladies involved in the lives of any victim that we’ve had,” says Echevarria. “They keep our homes together. The women are holding the fort down at the houses. We’re seeing that women are in the workforce, and they’re trying to do the best they can to maintain the family.”
Echevarria says women have a lot of influence, and he wants to tap into that influence.
A meeting involving local women, OSF HealthCare, and others, will be held October 22nd, but the time has yet to be annouinced.
