Walk around Forest Houses, a public housing complex in the South Bronx, and people will say they’ve been stabbed, robbed, beat up — even shot. But most never wanted to get police involved, and many say they wouldn’t go to prosecutors either — even if their attackers were arrested. They say they fear retaliation.
“If I knew the dude that did it, I wouldn’t tell on him,” said James Johnson, a 17-year-old who lives in Forest Houses, “because that’s how people come looking for you. It’s the truth. I’m telling you.”
Around here, residents say they don’t trust law enforcement to protect them because criminals keep coming back to the neighborhood, even after they’ve been locked up.
“They can start all over again harassing you, and you’re not getting relocated. You’re gonna still be in your hood, dealing with the problem again,” said Melissa White, 30, another resident of Forest Houses. “At the end of the day, this is why people don’t want to talk. Because they have nowhere to go.”
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