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Philly's broke. Where are the 10,000 men?
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No money, mo' problems: Philly's murder rate remains high
despite a sigificant drop in 2008.
President Obama's call for volunteerism is timely since government institutions are bleeding dry all over. And that makes us wonder: Whatever happened to the 10,000 Men?
When Philadelphia's "Call to Action: 10,000 Men" movement debuted in the fall of 2007, it seemed almost predestined. That year was particularly deadly for the city, with the murder rate topping more than one per day. The enlistment of civilian men to patrol their own neighborhoods, intervene in disputes and talk young men -- especially young black men -- down from a life of crime was borne of desperation. The national media certainly noticed, and other cities dealing with their own spikes in violence cribbed notes.
But "10,000 Men" petered out rather quickly. Just months later, volunteers were grumbling that lack of organization, training and volunteers, and poor coordination with Philly police, were grounding the movement. By February 2008, the City Paper was jeering, "Can You Find the 10,000 Men?" Calls to its HQ are intermittently met by a busy signal or disconnection message. The last login to "10,000 Men"'s MySpace page was Dec. 15, 2007.
Barack Obama is the nation's first president in a decade to express genuine concern for the papered-over problems of urban America. He supports increased funding for the COPS program, which was depleted during George W. Bush's presidency, and has stated a goal of 50,000 new police officers on the streets. Police chiefs across the nation, including Philly's Charles Ramsey, have complained for years that the federal government was prioritizing anti-terrorism initiatives over local law enforcement. Obama has vowed to right that balance.
But with the economy quite literally unravelling, it seems that crime will be as much of a priority as it was during the campaigns -- which is to say, not at all.
"With cities and states universally scaling back their police operations, infrastructure, reducing or cancelling academy classes, cutting back investigative and patrol overtime, slowing their financial investment in technology and implementing hiring freezes for sworn and civilian positions, all of us, police, local, state and federal government have a stake in ensuring that public safety for the citizens in this country is not compromised," Commissioner Ramsey told the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month. "Providing federal support to local and state law enforcement agencies during this economic downturn is an investment in the growth and success of this nation's future."
With the city projecting more than $1 billion in deficits over the next five years, Mayor Michael Nutter is up to his neck in difficult choices. Philadelphians cried bloody murder over the closure of 11 libraries -- now on hold -- and won't be much happier with the "drastic choices" Nutter has warned lay ahead. Criminologists argue over whether there's an iron-clad correlation between crime and recessions, but it's clear that Philly had a crisis on its hands well before the economy tanked.
Earlier this week, an advocacy group called the Violence Policy Center announced that Pennsylvania led the nation in black homicide rates. The study, based on 2006 data from the FBI, found that 490 of the 7,425 black homicide victims nationally were killed in Pennsylvania. The state's rate of 36.86 per 100,000 was more than one and a half times the national average.
The most frequently used weapons were guns, not surprisingly, an issue that has riven the state for years. After years of being blocked by the state legislature, Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell was able to get stricter gun control measures passed in late 2008 -- thanks in part to a spate of cop murders. Neighboring New Jersey may soon limit handgun purchases to one per month -- a law well out of the realm of possibility for Pennsylvania, with its large rural population.
It's not clear that gun control measures would have much effect on crime here, anyway. In Philly, the root problems appear to be poverty, an underachieving school system, and a "no snitching" culture.
With even trash disposal poised for the chopping block, these are DIY times. The long on rhetoric, short on follow-through "10,000 Men" movement may have been plagued by naivete. But with additional help from local or federal governments absent on the horizon, Philadelphians just may be forced to do for themselves.
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