And already getting returns home on the d w dot com arena tanks. Were playing full of these a parents Worst Nightmare that they live all over the top of them to sticks oakland chicago it happens every day but not. All of us so. Soon to float like the river and none of the deadliest cities in the u. S. Most victims all children. Can follow here what about the city to the other. This man who builds crosses for each year lost to the epidemic of Gang Violence here its almost can do to just stay alive we go 5 closest to the fence not make it so 7 people weve lost a bike to a city of chicago. Clifton boonie mike found out theres a loving grandfather. That back in the day he used to be a leading gang member he spent 27 years in jail for crimes ranging from assault to 1st degree murder after half a life behind bars others had filled his place and taken over the block once part of the problem moonie now spends his days as a gang intervention coordinator his porch is practically his Office Without him it would be too dangerous for us to film here. Is north already here his word carries weight it takes a courageous person. To stuff they speak to the kids they see a group of peers in the study now going through almost they get to a deal walk a mile. And that make thats the difference in me in the average person because i go to the class to try to make an honest living here it often takes holding down several underpaid jobs of once this man has been cleaning cars for 30 years 10 dollars each. But if youre looking for fast cash you sell drugs for the street gangs. Thats a hard job to convince them to stop selling. And they go get the. Dollar they got to tell them that theres a lot of tar i did try to get them to see the long dark pits and not there is if this. Goes against in fact a bit of. A short life in the fast lane for most here thats all theyve ever known. Most of their fathers were absent in jail during their childhood their moms barely able to make ends meet. Growing up here often means falling for the wrong hero. It takes a several days on the streets before we meet gang members willing to talk to us. If you want to be a part is like you see what we do and we hustle and we do it honestly it is your choice you will be a part of so you see the reason that we take you every risk that we take it is to wait do you. Get your choice if you mess around out if. You think you have the rights im choosing take the risk because of i like face my. Car drives out they negotiate a price and hand over the drugs thats how it is here hustling instead of homework. What might look like just a couple of friends hanging out can quickly take a turn for the worse almost everyone here is armed jonathan started selling drugs at the age of 13 has to tuesday tell the stories of friends he lost by allen g. Who was killed in front of his school when he was just 16 like real good times the chicago was they paid everybody yes it does it doesnt. Hurt i know my brother i know my big brother know will get back me he is but theres been a lot of theres been a lot of is going no no no the best the best brothers ive ever put through it. All its all me me that the whole world will blow. At 57 boonie again watches over his streets but this time its different hes knowing joe but life has made him wiser he still does manage to get through to everyone i couldnt even imagine life without gangs gain a cool is a life that if you chose it and they because we had no choice you know close enough to feel with the love no matter who it is a well what if from anybody had a choice in the life we go. Pushed to the point where we had no choice so we had to get out who did. And for many that means hanging around all day. Young people here have lost their faith in life having anything better to offer than the streets. In the gangs they try to be the family they never had for each other. Was that we dont like him sometimes this is looking good to see al again how for this music oh no will not be its not but so we gain by with it we really have family over her life we all come for you to overlook by we dont do we not we all do from the beef is the best ones though they gave way we will we do is we there nothing to her never know or see home. Oh. Hes the one who builds the cross and for chicagos lost children greg zane asher is a retired carpenter for each life taken he sets up another cross together they form a growing memorial on the west side. Greg himself suffered the tragic loss of 2 family members he knows what its like to have a loved one stolen from him. With the times were. Never making the cross and its also a way for greg to be able to work for his own trauma. My nicknames i. Heard this hard in my shop i cry a lot marsha. Are. Ive i feel like im bad these people because ive had that loss. And. It all seems like nobody was a talk about it to them i do. Nobody wants to have a loss go unnoticed that mother that loved their game or like just say honor. She loved him to a certain point something where. Once hes finished making a cross greg leaves it behind for the family of the deceased to take with them like tyrone blake sr. Even as a Police Officer he was unable to stop his own son from being drawn into the maelstrom of gang life and getting killed. They have no more as they have you know. Its just hard to talk about is this. You know we feel in life you. Know structure out. There and no leadership so. I. Just i dont know. Tyrone blake. Junior did not live to see his 26th birthday. I. Haul of points office fully rigged with than 10 i am radio scanners and monitors this is where he tracks Police Dispatches night by night listening in on police radio is not only legal in the us for the point its a crucial part of his work hes a freelance photojournalist who specialized in Police Operations the material he gathers he sells to local television stations for their crime related news. He has a range of contacts across the city he can send them to collect footage and he also hits the road himself every night. It really. Can be anywhere where people are shooting at each other you know i work. For added protection. Some nights seems a little more dangerous than others some where but it certainly helps make me feel a little bit safer when were out there and the violence has ticked up in chicago so. Classic Downtown Chicago with its imposing skyline is worlds removed from the chicago love point watson he covers stories from the toughest. One that is really cool on camera hes been on the job for 20 years now and seldom sleeps more than 5 hours a day is that. Soon as possible. A cup of coffee sounds good. Local t. V. Stations pay between 150. 00 and 300. 00 for the footage he delivers although there are plenty of cases to cover poorly as hes known by police and gang members alike has to work hard for his money hes the citys Number One Police reporter after all these years hes still passionate about his job. Here. Is that. If you have fear you cant you cant properly cover the city of chicago i dont know if you have fear its like if you were a war correspondent if you were assigned to afghanistan or iraq this is the similar assignment at the end of the day every day someone is being shot in my life. So it is not much different than being a combat journalist that many times tonight is a quiet day and we already have several people shot. A quiet night in most cities around the world theres nobody shot but in chicago that is a couple of people shot. In his car the point has 7 scanners tuned in to all the different Emergency Services Radio Systems covering Emergency Services. 47 hes divorced with 2 grown up children of his own his son also works for him and like him is on the road night after night. Hallies 1st stop of the evening a woman on the man was shocked and injured his movements are routine he wastes no time setting up his camera. The police have already roped off the area but even though theyve known poorly for ages they make sure to keep him out a distance. Make sure i look good one officer calls out to him. Once the police have wrapped up wholly packed away his camera and continues on his journey the next crime scene is already waiting. For a very. Good as it gets warmer. Bullets fly more violence as more the aggravation level is increased as you increase the temperatures people just get crazier and crazier. When the hottest summer days is when you get the most shootings because people are just. That the numbers in jakarta have been really bad at the time that weve had weekends where we had 50 people shot a dozen killed and that happens more frequently than people might think and its unfortunate for pauli but night is far from over. A new day dawns in chicagos west and south sides and reveals just how rundown these neighborhoods really are. The people who grew up here a crammed into underfunded schools and have few offer to. Ditties for Career Development any welfare and Education Programs are quickly discontinued if they fail to deliver the expected results fast. Crumbling buildings toxic landscapes its the exact opposite of the american dream. Unemployment is rife the middle class moved out years ago poverty here is selfperpetuating. Street work and boony is one of the few people local youngsters respect hes disappointed with the meager funding being provided to tackle the overwhelming problems facing the community. Its worse it is serious. And afghanistan every day its shootings and killings in his community and its not out sad force that. Because this weapon to its source. He can go get quicker than you can buy a bottle of juice. Chicago proud to be home to barack obama the countrys 1st africanamerican president. Tourists flock to its magnificent glittering downtown area most children from the west side have never even had a glimpse of this picture perfect part of the city the gulf between black and white rich and poor is deeper here than in most other places in america one more reason why chicago is plagued by so much violence. Back on the west side boonie doesnt take his eyes off his granddaughter he couldnt see his own kids grow up he was in jail. On. The Street Corner where bernie buys treats for a little rain is known as the most dangerous in the area. And when temperatures rise so does the violence and with it the death toll on just 2 days in july and 2800 or 100 people were shot 15 fatally many victims were innocent bystanders who had nothing to do with the gangs. My mother got her i got my job i was not. An old acquaintance from the neighborhood was there every. Quarter when you didnt see her like that ago babar he seems intimidating at 1st but soon its clear he has Mental Health problems and needs help over the roof nows a good to go some good see good i have a very old home he. Has been issued with luckily its just a colorful water postal but. No not. Here man. Otherwise the guns people carry here a real loaded and lethal. But this is this is an issue if i could know the man he means hes seriously mentally ill if he did drugs dont last as mad so hes mentally ill and he out in the street just that other normally a person he approached like that when it got physical the the mark of how the daily violence is the sad norm for him 3 blocks down theres been a real shooting only the shell casings remain strewn across the street as silent witnesses the victims 3 teenagers the shots were fired from a moving car in the afternoon just a school ended and the students were going higher up the stairs on my house in a hard time silence and not near my kids would drop to the floor it was a very scary says hes away so it was the 4th day and i was sad and. Never says day kids got to stay in the house they can come outside and play with their benches away so. Suzanne and they have no money now as we would like to go somewhere where i have no money. That some residents are paralyzed by fear for their childrens lives others have become numb to it whoever lives here has learned to survive. You stay aware but you dont feel scared oh you know you would never come out the house. Around. This that this weekend this is what just so while. I mean my models always stay around positive people stay from negative people who dont have nothing going on in my life that nothing to live for. Just keep it moving i really dont try to associate with a lot of people just outside of the streets where. The target of the of the state is so thats what really struck. Me just struck a chord with all of this is the work of the good Health Service well its. Small memorials for the dead a constant reminder of the ever present danger in chicago theres a shooting every 4 hours every 19 hours a fatal while there are more guns and fewer Police Officers here than in most other u. S. Cities and the police have a long standing reputation for racism its an explosive mix of factors. That happily add a guy up by the athlete he shouted after a quick prayer before setting to work the police have asked boone and other social workers for their help the police still have boonie registered as a gang member and often treat him unfairly he says but here they work hand in hand the violence is too severe for anyone sign to solve on its. Hands. I think on her right here in his exam. I think. What you make up these days about the great work you go all right leave it to the People Living in a trust the social workers more than they do the police. We could go to long run this got shot one supplied with no change you know in a 16 yo. Again lets go that we are here for there to vocally convince the younger people to put the gun. When young kids and teenagers die in the neighborhood people are more open to the message to me and his colleagues friends. They work for a Youth Development Organization Called bill which has been working to help at risk youngsters in chicago since 969. Is part of a small team of experienced x. Gang members street veterans he and his colleague carlos were both gang leaders in the past. In those days they could never have imagined working together with each other on the other side. Not about how many not im in town and what your plans are to make there are no big deal for you and i was different movies out you know. When we would know we when it came together in our lives that actually we would been a part of the problem you know with us it was the kids it was our report aisha you know that has a lot to do with it they know that were solving individual. And they look up to us and try to change their lives and give them jobs confidence yeah. I got my. Mam up front that well i mean you know what you know hes not right but at the end of the day the team meeting at the offices of bill mooney and his colleagues. Change ideas on how to get through to those they worry about most days right. Accept and carlos know all too well just how hard it can be to find a job after leaving jail. That will go well ive got billed as workers from all walks of life from College Graduates turn social workers to people Whose University was the street. Moonee has his very own method he approaches everyone in the community including its youngest residents and talks to them. So what with mike it. Was out so he didnt see it right. Here. Its important that the kids trust him so that they can talk to him with everyone here knows bernie and he knows this is the only way to reach some of them especially those who arent ready yet for the other activities and programs build office. This is the Organization Also offers discussion groups for juveniles with criminal records theyre not his strictly voluntarily attendance is one of their parole conditions carlos leads the group today theyre talking about their mothers this. Is not easy to dispose of the. Woman is hard so appreciate your mother a very minor no sure some feign disinterest with others shift uncomfortably in their chairs talking about their emotions is something theyve never really learnt to do we can we can help you guide you but you guys got to give us insight you know what is it that you need so that more carlos the former gang leader who spent 25 years in jail talks openly about his emotions and his mother she never failed to visit me she never feels the same commissary of money she never said failed to send me pictures you know of family events she never will to you nor collect. She was always. My homeys. 6 months into my bed yeah they looked out. It was gone my girlfriends it was go. And thats the reality and thats why we do this you know to give up we spoke to our moms you know to show that we love. Because you could have disagreements and she can be true but guys know my. People and so his openness gets the boys thinking you know find a way to make stuff nice you know you know why she always put it. First so. This is my protector. He said because my mom had both my mother never. Seen a home even though she had it so brazenly are put in boxes to see always. Make sure you sort of if you do go for a while but right now she just got out of prison last more. I havent seen her for 234 years no she never thought delusion was going to have this was all drugged up you know she wasnt in the right mind. And the story is that they are reluctant to recall him but many are reluctant to hear carlos does listen offers the boys options but hes well aware that ultimately they will have to fend for themselves back on the street. The only protection greg zaniest needs is a helmet he soles and hammers away so that others wont forget chicagos loss kids. Its a labor of love that requires him to work every single day. And weve got the worst kind of cancer or any country could ever have got gun violence and just get. It ole thing nobody said. There is no cure for cancer but if there is no cure here im going to be going like that you know and i can. Keep up with it. Its about a nation thats walked away from god. Its about then im showing act of kindness you know im going there not just with a cross in the heart im i got to get a hug thats my paycheck. 22 years ago greg found his father in law shot dead in front of his home since that day hes not only been a carpenter but also a chronicler of those chicago has lost he researches their stories keeps lists and tries to push his own pain away just 2 months ago one of his daughters died suddenly of an overdose. Its difficult for him to talk about it. I guess a rude think that my daughter met me a list of all that were to do tell me how i think this country is just quickly going to hell. In the 10 years thats 10 years of and especially the last 2 years. Greg hes inconsolable yet he tries to console others with his crosses. The boy with a gentle smile was tyree wives he lived to be 16. Even Young Children can fall victim to chicagos violence there to protect them a crossing guards from the safe passage program. These women in bright yellow vests patrol the streets to try to keep kids safe not from cars but from bullets. Theyre armed with nothing but walkie talkie to call the police. Ballance on the way to school has dropped by one 3rd since they started. Still whoever grows up here could always be at the wrong place at the wrong time and get killed. Police departments like this one in district 7 in englewood a places that most residents associate with problems problems with the police. Randall lacey wants to change that everyone here knows her as miss ray well the additional 3 hours after her daughter was stabbed to death she was left to raise her grandkids on her own 2 years ago one of them was also killing. Miss ray wanted to do her part to combat violence on the streets so she founded the chess club. So i think my 1st mission in the monsoon rains kids meet at the Police Station to play chess against members of the community and Police Officers its clear this was. The 1st. White allowed that they would set me up to stop the way they think about this you have to stop drinking a day at a dragon a brother with great name all the way to the rest of. Yourself and you know the kind this side of the police. And the same thing go for the Police Officer who also want you to just sit down without your then how. Their children do out with your son i know. Plus whoever is playing chess is not out on the street says miss wright she also thinks the playing chance teaches the kids to solve their. Problems with reason and not by pulling a gun and resorting to violence. Well like that told me its over right this way to live life so like if there was life blackie we chose to go the other way its a sure way to go if theres a good bed head which tells you to go that way or that i think that. The officers arent allowed to talk to journalists Chicagos Police have avoided any kind of coverage since the escalation and violence. In the rough and tough west side playing chess here is like an oasis of calm the kids say they feel safe even the youngest was. Outside its a different story and child i prefer to think like military family have that is what you think you. Should you know legacy things like now he needs to think like i did satisfied that we like to have pantry. You know. A lot of mothers in the neighborhood of lost children miss ray tells us they can all sympathize with one another i know how it feels. I still shes determined not to let life get her down if only for the sake of the children this is. My daughter the daughter who was killed just love all of my grandson was murdered this is always to you doesnt have to say to you. We have to protect them so i think this they focus all right. I like them quite well you know. Its night time and bernie isnt hung his eyes are really following the t. V. That theyre glued to his farm. Hes always on call in case one of the kids wants to reach him sometimes in the middle of the night. 27 years of jail couldnt break his spirit he married his wife patricia after he was released above the couch is a picture of his zine iraq and Michelle Obama Martin Luther King Bob Marley muhammad ali but africanamericans are far from being at the reins theyre still being systematically disadvantaged his work on the streets is also the fight for equal opportunities. Afraid. The polies this give you that paris is scared you. Know bad. This is the most courageous generation of young black people in this world is right here. My thinking back in direct courage to a real fight fight thats going to help us as a people. Just think of the what could be accomplished bernie trying to keep his own son orlando out of the gang life but he was in jail when he finally got out orlando was already in the age of 17 sentenced to 55 years for mada if theres one thing bernie regrets and its losing his son to the streets. He grew up in the camillas he did i was part of the destruction there my reputation so all he grew up all his life was. To put straight and. Think if he was living up to my. So when he had a conflict and started resolving it. By that he resolved it in a way. And that was right and it caused them in fact you know that was like. The street is open for business 247 cars drive out the door opens drugs are exchanged and the car drives off again maybe dooney is trying to help these kids because his own son is so out of reach. Orlando now a grown man is calling from prison goony hasnt seen him you know for 25 years as a former convict he isnt allowed to visit his son in prison but he has plans for orlando once he gets sacked. I want to the jail bad and youve got to play this badly youve got your privates youve got the perfect storm just like me. But for now all he can do is watch from his front porch as the kids on the street make the same mistakes he did. Mistakes that really come with the 2nd child. Patrol cars emergency lights show the way for paul the point hes reached his 2nd crime scene of the night. A few hours ago 2 young men in their early twentys were shot. Out of a moving car on a street full of traffic. That could easily have been more victims says paul. Innocent people who just happened to be passing by. There is no time of day in chicago when it doesnt happen like i said you know really theres a shooting every 4 hours in chicago so you know its rare i dont know that weve got a day without it shooting for 2 years now i think its been 2 years and not a day without a shooting or a 24 hour period without a shooting so you know again crime is down the homicides in shootings have have thought about 25 percent but we still have 75 percent that is still happening so its going to take a little more work for us to get this pizza a little safer. Tonight is fairly quiet he says. 3 am fully has time to swing by his office here its safe to take off his bullet proof vest. In his very own headquarters pauli continues listening to the police radio and directing his staff here remain alert and ready to return to the streets until morning. All he has lived with this inverted shadow for the past 20 years. And he still gets upset by the events he covers. The 14 or 13 year olds 12 year olds the reason why theyre brought into a gang wife is because they cant get in trouble as an adult so theyre recruiting young kids into these gangs so they can commit the shootings and then they get out of the you know like a youth camp when theyre 18 years old so theyre not there at the spend the rest of their life in jail for killing someone so you find yourself we had one time we had a child who is 12 years old 12 and the gang was looking for him to kill him because he shot someone else it was one of the biggest stories we had in the beginning of my career was horrible to think that 1st of all that they recruited in years this child in the way they did and then they killed him which is why foley says he wont quit not tonight not any time soon. The same goes for boonie hes attending yet another funeral but here too he finds time to speak to troubled youngsters timeless in his efforts to get them back on track. He finds them and they find him for boonie his job and private life inseparable. The funeral parlor and grounds at least a gun free here the community can gather and mold in peace. But todays funeral is not for someone ripped far too soon from their beloved. The neighborhood has congregated today to say its final farewells to a man who lived to the ripe old age of 86 7. Not many has survived that long this is a community that has become tragically accustomed to burying their loved ones at an early age. Its awful when it really it takes a lot. To see the agony the hurt and the pain. In young people at the in the i think years a lot of the young people that are dying are leaving children behind which makes the situation even worse so its challenging it really is. A challenging situation that when circumstances like these seems insurmountable in theory the people born into these conditions have the same and equal rights as anyone else in the country but they certainly do not have the same opportunity. And with next to no outside assistance or viable role models providing inspirational guidance the chances of breaking the vicious cycle of violence and poverty are sadly low. To some boonie is the turning point in their lives. Davy and his 18 and wants to be a nurse to earn some extra money he works night shifts until 6 in the morning and then they want to have to go do what i went to actually like a father to me there are no in there because i never had the person but i always say ill goes a relative tear me with dont do this i dont do that but they would never show me a different way how to do it they would hear me what not to do how could i not do if you know give me a different route to years of boony believing in him ok davey in the courage to turn his life around. Bernie doesnt give up on anyone easily but he wants to be there emergency exit to get them off the wrong track and convince them there is a better life waiting for them. Thats hard to believe when all you know are the few blocks around you and affluent Downtown Chicago remains a shimmering skyline on the horizon. But not now while you think you are you. At that point out the rabbit today boonie is hosting a Family Reunion on his front porch a short reprieve in the rough neighborhood. Boonie is the patriarch of west la to serve a new low key persistent did not eat out again and gone right davey and made it to the other side bernie and patricia have practically taken him in with the ever be equal opportunities for the children surviving in the shadows of chicago down to his granddaughter will ever get to see that day and yet he keeps on fighting every day for the kids here to come around hes always ready whenever they are. And you know its a Little League new day with let you know when they when i think it might be 1 oclock in the morning they come up with the bad body could you take me in the morning to find me a job or could you take me in the morning put me in the program would you take me the morning families from school so they come there no prescribed time but not a so you just got to be there when they call them i think is knowledge of god keep up with me and keep me healthy enough work and get up from point a to point b. I will be up for. As long as he waits for them on his porch the door to a different life remains cracked open. For all of chicagos children who have lost their way. And impossible journey. Nido ones to return to. The german palestinian will be given the one who was going to happen now or will be at the border to palestine to leave. We get into the movies you would like to be in 30 minutes monday w. Their music gives them strength and a glimmer of hope. The only Symphony Orchestra in central africa. Hardly any of the musicians have professional training in. Their one big symphonic family in which the musicians from kinshasa have found a home. On 3090 minutes on d w. What secrets lie behind these moves. To find out in an immersive experience and explore fascinating world Cultural Heritage sites. D w World Heritage 36015. This is deja vu news live from berlin catastrophic of catastrophic monsoons across south asia scores are dead more than a 1000000 people are fleeing the flooding in nepal india and bangladesh the ongoing rains are hampering rescue are also coming up. In the hot seat south africa a former president jacob zuma