STEVE INSKEEP, host:
Philadelphia's police commissioner is looking for a few good men - or to be more precise, 10,000 of them. Violent crime in the city has gotten so bad this year, the commissioner says police cannot fight it alone. He wants volunteers, men, to patrol the streets essentially to act as witnesses - or as peacekeepers, as the commissioner puts it.
A group of local executives and activists who worked on the Million Man March brought the commissioner this idea, and Commissioner Sylvester Johnson was receptive.
Commissioner SYLVESTER JOHNSON (Philadelphia Police Department): I see people being killed every single day here in the city of Philadelphia, mostly in the Afro-American community. So when you have men from the street that says we want to stand up and do something differently, we want to protect our own women and children, I think that's a positive thing.
INSKEEP: Was there one particular crime or string of crimes that led people to start calling for this idea?
Mr. JOHNSON: Yes. Murders. Murders. Shootings. I mean, last year, the year before last, we had a 9-year-old boy shot in front of the school - killed. No one came forward. We had a house firebombed in the city of Philadelphia with six people were killed, and no one came forward. We had a 4-year-old girl shot, and no one came forward. The point is that we're no longer accepting it. The criminals at 4 or 5 percent is not going to control our neighborhoods no more. We're going to control our own neighborhoods.
INSKEEP: What do you want a volunteer to be doing out on the street?
Mr. JOHNSON: Well, the volunteers are just going out there as peacekeepers. They're not going out there with the idea of any sort of confrontation. They're not going out there with weapons. It's hard for a person to commit a crime when there's 15, 20 men that's going to be standing on those streets.
In the early 1970s, we've led the entire nation in gang killings. Mothers went out there in the streets, and they made a big difference. Men can make a difference in our community by just their presence, by just being out there.
INSKEEP: Are you sure that you can get 10,000 men who want to do this, who have time to do it, and who you actually want to do it?
Mr. JOHNSON: I didn't make that number. This is the number that they made on the street, the people on the street saying that, you know, and I say it constantly, law enforcement by itself is not going to change the quality of life. In the Afro-American community, 85 percent of those that are being killed is Afro-African. We didn't ask for 10,000 black men. We asked for 10,000 men. If Latinos wants to join us, they're welcome. If Caucasians want to join them, they're welcome.
Our idea is to let's get as many people as we possibly can. If we get a thousand men that's dedicated, then we'll accept that. We'll accept whatever we have. We're only asking them for three hours a week, or whatever hours they can put in for it. And so far, the response has been tremendous.
INSKEEP: Will these patrols have any kind of uniform?
Mr. JOHNSON: No. But what's going to happen is that they'll have armbands, but they would be well recognized. They'll have a roll call. And each captain of every district - there are 23 districts - will be out there with them. And we will only work at areas where the patrol district captain says here's where I want you at, here's where I need you at, here's the hours I need you there.
INSKEEP: I'm just thinking, if you have a group of men walking around, it seems like there is lots of potential for good to be done, but also lots of potential for confusion, vigilante justice.
Mr. JOHNSON: They're not vigilantes. They're peacekeepers. And some of these people are doctors. They're lawyers. They're faith-based people. They're working people. They're ex-offenders. Please give us credit that we're not just throwing men out there without the proper training, without the proper guidance, without the proper leadership.
And I'm going to retire in January 5th of next year. On January 8th, I will be back out there with the men in the streets, because it's just that important to me. And I will be with them.
INSKEEP: Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, thanks very much.
Mr. JOHNSON: Thank you.
INSKEEP: So that's one view of the plan for volunteers on Philadelphia's streets. And tonight on NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, we will hear the view from the streets. By the way, Pennsylvania State Police are also helping in the effort to stop violence in Philadelphia. State troopers began patrolling some of the city's neighborhoods last week.
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