So why do the real cops have guns? Can't they talk nicely to people and resolve conflicts peacefully?
Using former Nation Of Islam people for semi-governmental work? That's not far off using the ex KKK members to police some southern state.
I can see the death toll rising, sending unarmed men on patrol in areas where gun crime is prevalent, yeah, I can see that working, sounds a bit "Operation Human Shield" to me.
You have a point, albiet a flawed one. The difference is the racial makeup of the areas in question. In both these Philly neighborhoods and the south the populace is predominantly black. In this case the "volunteers" would also be black, whereas the KKK is obviously white. It also seems like a co-option of the Nation of Islam. Fundamentally it will be more difficult for them to oppose city policy if they are in fact an instrument of other policies.
But regardless, using any fundamentally racist group like the Nation of Islam (black islamic supremacists) for the policing of a neighbourhood where any citizen is free to walk is completely wrong on several levels.
A possibly closer parallel is the UK Government (ie, Blair) asking moderate Muslim leaders to control (and even report on) the hot-headed Muslims in their communities. If it works, kudos for the Gov. If it fails, blame the moderates for not being hard on terrorism. No need to look at the causes of disaffection, just seek to control it.
Again no, the Nation of Islam are black supremacists. It may be buried a bit within their literature but they believe and teach that the black "race" is superior to all others. I see what you're all saying, but the government shouldn't so much as communicate with them.
Marginalisation leads to competition. Integration leads to co-operation. We learned that in Northern Ireland.
Yeah - just remember that nobody has ever credited the leadership of Philly with having so-called "intelligence." Remember when they tried that city-wide weight loss campaign that basically had no effect? But that Don't Snitch mentality is actually fueled by black leadership. Just a couple of weeks ago (I think it was) a prominent black leader was advocating that policy. (Sorry I don't remember much but we talked about it in class). I like the idea of a Guardian Angels-guided policy, because just asking unorganized members of the community to go out and try to prevent crime is very misguided.
