Police defunding depended on the myth that police would be better off replaced with something else. The alternatives included everything from social workers to ‘violence interrupters’ which in practice meant members of community groups trained to defuse conflicts. As you can imagine, this never worked very well.
In a Newsweek editorial, I wrote that “research has shown no meaningful evidence that violence interruption actually works. And if stopping gang members from killing each other over money and turf were as easy as having a conversation with them about their life choices, why would have anyone ever need the police to begin with?”
Now over in Minneapolis, the City of Love, a “violence interrupter” is under arrest.
Two members of a Minneapolis violence prevention organization run by Rev. Jerry McAfee are now facing weapons charges after one of them was shot last week.
Last week, Rev. Jerry McAfee told FOX 9 one of his workers for 21 Days of Peace was shot in the area of 36th Avenue and Penn Avenue following a barbecue put on by the group.
Police say dozens of shots were fired during the exchange last Monday night. Speaking with police, officers say McReynolds admitted he only fired in the general direction of the gunmen who fired the initial shots, since he couldn’t see them. He also admitted he was trained to stop firing once the other person stops but kept going because “adrenaline was going.”
Police told FOX 9 one shot fired during the exchange went through a child’s bedroom – though no one was hurt by the stray bullet.
As part of the changes, city leaders said they would drop a proposal to send $640,000 to Salem Inc. – an organization run by Rev. Jerry McAfee. The decision followed scrutiny from council members after McAfee disrupted a council meeting last month and was later accused by council members of making threats.
The violence interrupters need violence interrupters. But mostly, Minneapolis needs a functional police force and an end to police defunding nonsense. Violence interrupters are not a substitute for police. Sending in civilians to try and stop shootings is senseless. If they’re unarmed they’re helpless and if they’re armed, they’re not trained to law enforcement standards.
But if you really want to interrupt the violence, you need to start locking up criminals.
