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Roddey calls for task force to examine violence
Tuesday, May 02, 2000 By Mark Belko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Former political foes Jim Roddey and Dr. Cyril Wecht are teaming up to try to find ways to prevent the kind of violent rampages that have claimed the lives of eight people in the last two months.
Roddey, the Allegheny County executive, has asked Coroner Wecht, his opponent in last fall's election, to chair a task force of local community leaders whose mission will be to develop strategies to combat such violence.
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"It may be impossible to prevent things like this but we have to try," Roddey said. "If we can stop just one person from doing this, it would be worth our efforts."
With Wecht's input, Roddey plans to recruit as many as 40 people from religious, ethnic, educational, business, mental health and law enforcement backgrounds to serve on the task force.
Its formation comes in the wake of Friday's attacks in which Richard Baumhammers of Mt. Lebanon is charged with killing his Jewish neighbor, an Indian man, a Chinese restaurant manager and Vietnamese co-worker, and a black man in a two-hour shooting spree in Allegheny and Beaver counties.
It also follows the March 1 shootings in Wilkinsburg in which Ronald Taylor, a black man, is accused of killing three people and seriously wounding two others.
Roddey said he sees the task force as a "communitywide effort to craft solutions and develop action plans to prevent violence." Wecht described it as a "good beginning."
"I believe what a task force like this can do is to identify any problems or deficiencies from a sociological standpoint, from the standpoint of mental health diagnosis and appropriate intervention and treatment," he said.
"Ultimately to a great extent, it's going to depend on the good faith efforts of people to recognize problems in their own families and the immediate environment and to be encouraged and urged to take a somewhat pro-active stance in trying to cut back on a Ronald Taylor here and a Baumhammers there."
Roddey said he has already started to contact possible task force members. He said he hopes to hold a meeting of the group within two weeks.
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