ST. LOUIS – James Clark, vice president of public safety for the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis, has been on the front line of efforts to combat youth violence in the city.

In the aftermath of Sunday morning’s shooting in downtown that left one juvenile dead and nine others injured, Clark visited FOX 2 to discuss how things got to this point, and what the region can do to turn things around.

According to Clark, the current crime crisis has been building for a long time. The answer is more neighborhood intervention to catch problems before they explode into violence.

More than five years ago, Clark predicted that the violence would get as bad as it is now.

“Well, it really comes from us not being able to fortify our neighborhoods. When you look at the neighborhood, that’s where a lot of this stems from,” he said Sunday in an interview with FOX 2’s Elliott Davis. “We have a crime crisis now; one that has the same solution – neighborhood engagement. It’s showing up downtown, but it happens in our neighborhoods each and every day.”

Clark said there’s still time to turn the violence around, but he warns it’s going to take a huge effort by the city leaders—along with law enforcement—to do it.