By Nelson A. King
As the rate of crime rises
throughout the country, the
67th Precinct Clergy Council in
Brooklyn, popularly known as
the GodSquad, along with other
national clergy-led groups, hosted
a timely gun violence training
for faith leaders on July 1.
Designed to educate participants
of battle-tested models of
reducing gun violence, the God-
Squad said the intensive training
covered topics such as: the
role of faith, the work of gun
violence prevention, street-level
engagement and on the ground
outreach, season of peace model
and best practices from around
the country.
Among the presenters was
Rev. Jeffrey Brown, one of the key
architects behind the “Boston
Miracle,” which saw the violent
crime rate among youth plummet
by 79 percent over a decade.
“If we are going to stop the
violence in our communities, we
are not going to be able to preach
our way through it,” Brown told
faith leaders. “We are going to
have to do something unconventional.
TAKE THESE STEPS:
6 ft
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We must learn to listen
and not preach.”
Brown works with faith
groups, cities, government, and
police to stop gang violence
as the President of Rebuilding
Every Community Around Peace
(RECAP) and co-founder of My
City at Peace.
Other presenters during the
two-hour event included: The
Rev. Charles Harrison, president
of Indianapolis TenPoint Coalition
USA; Pastor Delonte Gholston,
president of Peace Walk
DC; the Rev. Ciera Walker, executive
director of LiveFree Chicago;
and the Revs. Charles Galbreath,
Louis Straker Jr., and Edward-
Richard Hinds, Pastor Wilmouth
Seaton and President Pastor Gil
Monrose of The GodSquad.
Brooklyn Borough President
Eric Adams and NYC Public
Advocate Jumaane also briefly
attended the virtual summit to
lend support and deliver brief
remarks.
Adams commended the God-
Squad and the other clergy-led
groups for organizing the timely
event amid uptick in shootings
and ahead of the July 4 holiday
weekend.
“We must ask that faith leaders
reach out beyond the church
walls, synagogue walls, mosque
walls to the everyday people on
our road to recovery,” he said.
Williams said: “As we move
into the summer, it gets hotter,
not just in temperature. If we
are not honest about the story
behind the numbers, we will be
dishonest about the response.
“Sometimes, people want to
feel safe, even if they aren’t safer,”
he said. “We want to focus on
both – feeling safe and being
safe.
“When the numbers go up,
which they do cyclically, people
sometimes say what we need is
more police, which then causes
another problem of over policing,”
Williams added. “So, it’s
about working in partnership.”
US Virgin Islands (USVI)
native, Pastor Monrose said he
convened the national training,
which attracted 200 participants
Assistant Chief Kim Royster. GodSquad
from across the USA, USVI and
even Trinidad and Tobago.
“More than ever before, we are
challenged to take control of our
cities,” he charged faith leaders
in his call for action. “Over the
past nine days, 112 people were
injured or killed in shootings in
New York City and 167 in Chicago
over the past two weeks.
“What we need now to end
gun violence in America is faith
that it can be done, the will to
act and the tools to bring about
change,” Monrose added. “Now
is the time for faith leaders to
respond to the urgent to lead
and be partners in creating a
safer city.
“Public safety is a shared
responsibility, and we as clergy
must do our part to end the epidemic
of senseless gun violence
in our beloved communities,” he
urged, charging participants to
encourage everyone they know
across the USA to complete the
2020 Census and “help ensure
fair representation and the requisite
funding we need in our communities
for the fight against
gun violence.”
The GodSquad said it “deeply
appreciates” the support of
Assistant Chief Kim Royster,
Community Affairs Bureau,
New York Police Department
(NYPD), who thanked the clergy
for working on a safe summer.
GodSquad holds gun violence
training for faith leaders
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