Oh, yes... 
I can see this going to turn out great!
Posted on 09/12/2007 4:15:45 PM PDT by mdittmar
Philadelphia police and black community leaders called on Wednesday for 10,000 men to volunteer to patrol the streets of America's most dangerous big city in a bid to halt a surge in murders and violent crime.
In an initiative that organizers hope will be copied in other cities, the unarmed and non-uniformed volunteers would patrol selected areas in an attempt to deter drug dealing and other street crimes that have given Philadelphia the highest murder rate among the 10 largest U.S. cities.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, a key backer of the plan, said it will be officially launched on October 21 with the aim of putting the first patrols on the streets by early November. Volunteers will be asked to patrol for three hours a day for an initial period of 90 days.
"There will be no weapons and no arrests," Johnson told Reuters. "These are not vigilantes. They will be on the streets as peacekeepers."
The effort has similarities to the Guardian Angels group that starting patrolling New York City in 1979. Volunteers, who will be identified with armbands, from any ethnic group will be welcomed, but the force is expected to be largely black because that community accounts for 85 percent of murder victims, Johnson said.
Philadelphia has recorded 294 homicides so far this year, up from 270 for the same period of 2006. For last year as a whole, 406 people, mostly young black men, were killed on the streets of the city, the highest number for nine years.
The violence has continued to rise despite repeated calls by police, civic and community leaders for an end. Community leaders blame joblessness and the drug trade while gun-control advocates blame state lawmakers for failing to pass effective gun laws and for preventing cities such as Philadelphia from enacting their own measures to curb firearms ownership.
Johnson said the plan was initiated by Philadelphia-based record industry mogul Kenny Gamble and is also backed by a group of prisoners-for-life at nearby Graterford maximum-security prison. Those prisoners, though incarcerated, still have influence in the communities they came from and are urging young people there to avoid a life of crime.
"They are saying, 'You don't want to go in that direction. There's no glory in it'," Johnson said.
Dennis Muhammad, a security guard for Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and a prominent supporter of the plan, said he hoped to attract some of the 80,000 Philadelphia men who attended the 1995 "Million Man March" led by Farrakhan.
"This is the first of its kind in the country," Muhammad said. "We believe that Philadelphia is at such a crisis level that the community is willing to participate in anything that would reduce the number of violent crimes in the city."
Guardian Angels,Nation of Islam,all working for the same goals,right?
Be careful what you wish for. oh..wait..this is Philly, not Texas.
Unarmed?
Only a fool would join. I don’t think they have 10,000 fools, even in Philly.
Man, Iraq’s such a quagmire, hellhole.
PHILLY?!! Um, more welfare and hugs for felons, yeah.
Bush sucks.
Better to invoke the 2nd Amendment and call out the “unorganized militia”.
Paging General Petraeus....
How about the Minuteman?
Yabbut who’s gonna watch the 10,000 men?
Wrong.
They'll be on the streets as TARGETS.
Since gus aren’t allowed in Philly, there should be no danger for these 10,000 “unarmed observers”/sarc
hmmm...whatever happened to the 100,000 cops that Clinton conjured up?
“the force is expected to be largely black because that community accounts for 85 percent of murder victims”
Who would have guessed?
Good thing I had 3 years of Latin.
The perfect time and place for Murtha to jump in and show us all how it’s done.
Oh, yes... I can see this going to turn out great!
Where the heck are the million men from Farakans march
Nemo.
Those prisoners, though incarcerated, still have influence in the communities they came from
That's half the problem right there. If you are locked up for life, why do you have any influence at all? A child will look at that and say, "Wooowww....!"
Sounds like they want to do what Detroit does on Devils Night, every night.
I see. The city fathers have decided the solution is to form their gang?
C.W.
What a stupid idea IMHO
This is a great idea! As long as you can find 10,000 unarmed Buffoons willing to go up against heavily armed gangbangers!
This surge has already failed. Philly is lost, a quagmire. Bush’s fault. He hates blacks...
Lieberals won’t do it. They expect the government to do all things. They can’t make a stand for themselves you know.
Philadelphia has recorded 294 homicides so far this year,
in a population of 1,500,000.
Baltimore has had about 220 homicides so far in a city of 650,000 .
Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, we’re more dangerous than Philly. I guess we’re not in the “big” city category any more, if Philadelphia is the most dangerous big city in the US>
Detroit had a similar program back in the late ‘60’s and it was called STRESS. My dad was a lieutenant with the TMU (Tactical Mobile Units) at the time and it was highly successfull. Unfortunately then mayor Soleman Young deemed them racist and had the entire unit disbanded......the rest is history.
Why don’t they just ship their criminals out to tents so they live with the rabid bears. That should a stop to crime.
“unarmed”
lol, didn’t the un send unarmed peacekeepers different places...?
The (Baltimore) Examiner has collated the data on large cities and their homicide stats:
» Homicide comparisons: Boston (559,000 population), 47 homicides; Newark, N.J. (274,000), 66; Washington D.C. (551,000), 126; Philadelphia (1.5 million), 285; New York (8.1 million), 311
» Homicides per 100,000 residents: Baltimore, 33; Newark, 24; Washington, 23; Philadelphia, 19; Boston, 8; New York, 4
Hey you! Yes, I'm pointing at you! Stop it right now or you're going to be sorry!
NYC: 325 murders in a city of 8,000,000 as of Labor Day. (yawn)
They can be successful,depends on who are running them.
RIOT ACT
oh..wait..this is Philly, not Texas.
Are you sure they aren’t talking about Iraq???
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment XIV, Section 1.
...No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States...
We are all jealous of NY!
Maybe that many men would help. It’s worth a try. Besides it’s our country and the cities our families live in. Why shouldn’t we all pitch in to try and help? It will bond a lot of people and maybe working together they will all understand each of them want the same for their families...safety and the right to be someplace without being assaulted in some way. I hope this works for everyone. Bring the good guys together and take the bad guys off the streets!!! Sounds good to me and I wish them all well and Gods speed!
The Guardian Angels and the Minutemen will be welcomed soon.
What are they gonna use, harsh language?
They elected a stupid mayor, he probably got 10,000 votes.
I really think they should just say 10,000 women. How sexist to ask for men.
They will go out after dark with no weapons, and they will go into the absolutely roughest areas. These women could go in patrols of three or four. Just think what this would do for equality.
They are having meetings with each other.
And just like the alleged “million” man march, no whites need apply.
“The violence has continued to rise despite repeated calls by police, civic and community leaders for an end.”
Gee, I don’t understand...you mean ‘community leaders’ have repeatedly asked criminals to stop being violent, and the gang-bangers aren’t heeding their pleas? Who could ever imagine that? /s
There, fixed it :)
Guardian Angels vs Nation of Islam sounds like some kind of WWE cage match.
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