Many in Peoria are concerned about what will happen with gang violence once schools are combined. This concern is valid, as some turf wars are bound to happen. The mean girls and thug boys will be working overtime to establish “who run this”.
In Detroit, a group of 100 citizens have volunteered to go into the schools and help patrol the student population. I know for a fact that when somebody’s mom and/or dad is at school, kids straighten up (teachers too).
Carl Cannon’s Elite Team has already shown how successful a grassroots patrol unit can be. Why not expand the Elite Team and take it into the schools?
100 men sign up to patrol Detroit schools
The Detroit News
Detroit -- About 100 men who live in the city have signed up to patrol Detroit Public Schools starting this fall, as part of an effort to cut violence following a recent bus stop shooting in which seven teenagers were injured, Bishop Edgar L. Vann II announced Wednesday.
Vann, pastor of Second Ebenezer Church, said he is looking for more volunteers to keep an eye out for trouble at every school in the Detroit Public Schools district.
"It is time that we made a difference in teen violence in our city," said Vann, who was flanked by 50 pastors from area churches, as well as local and federal law enforcement officials. "We are standing here to let them know that we are outraged."
Vann said an alliance of pastors, Detroit Public Schools officials, Mayor Dave Bing's office and law enforcement agencies will allow for a more coordinated effort to head off violence.
Attendees at the press conference received a surprise boost when Barbara Byrd-Bennett, DPS chief academic officer and accountability auditor, promised the district would implement conflict resolution courses throughout its schools in the fall.
Vann said Second Ebenezer would train the volunteer patrollers to follow strict guidelines determined by DPS police. The volunteers will be expected to report incidents or information that students might be unwilling to divulge.
Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans said the efforts offer "the best possibility to decrease violence in the City of Detroit. That is all a police chief can ask for," Evans said. "I want all the help that we can get."
1 comment:
The Elite group is certainly an example. For most of the adults, it would mean doing more than paying lip-service, placing blame, spending months planning something, starting an effort and then quitting after one week because they did not get the desired results.
At a seminar that I attended many years ago, it was said that the solution to the drug and gang problem was to have a "church lady" on every corner. There is a lot of truth there.
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