We need the National Guard to stop Philly’s gun violence crisis | Opinion

For more than five years, I have marched to Washington to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus.

Last year, I went on a 26-day hunger strike at City Hall.

Last month, I walked 90 miles over 14 days to Gov. Tom Wolf’s home.

On the weekends, I patrol neighborhoods to act as a crime deterrent by being present in areas where violence is likely.

Each day, I go to the scenes of a homicide in Philadelphia to protest the inaction of our leaders.

I know the pain of being victimized. My granddaughter was 17 when she was shot in the leg when coming home from a funeral. I have done everything I can to try to persuade our elected leaders to address the unending crisis of violence in Philadelphia. But no matter what I do, still, it’s not enough. Last year, Philadelphia reached a record-breaking number of 562 homicides. This year, we have had more killings than there were days in the year. Carjackings have tripled.

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We need more help to stem the violence. It’s time to call in the Pennsylvania National Guard to do what Philadelphia police are too short-staffed to do. They should be a presence on our city’s streets, in all neighborhoods. Just by being there, they will deter violence.

When the National Guard came to Philadelphia in June 2020, amid the protests over the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, they restored order on the streets. I was out there on 52nd Street in June and I saw how looters left when law and order came through, saving those stores and bringing peace to the neighbors who were taking cover in their homes.

This sense of law and order does not currently exist in the city of Philadelphia, and is much needed. Citizens are afraid to travel throughout the city, to stop at a red light, to let their children play in the playgrounds or go to school, or to work as store owners without fear of being robbed.

This is chaos in its simplest form. By calling in the National Guard, Gov. Wolf, with the support of Mayor Jim Kenney, could assist the Philadelphia Police Department in restoring safety to our communities and preserving the lives of the Black and brown people who are most at risk of becoming victims of the city’s surging violence.

I realize this approach is not favored by many Philadelphians, who fear this will become an occupied city and their rights could be compromised. In August, even Kenney rebuffed the idea of bringing in the National Guard, saying that “they are not capable or trained to do urban policing, or do policing of any kind.”

I understand this perspective — and we could avoid calling in the National Guard if more community members would come out and take action.

I came up through the House of Umoja, where we learned to broker truces between warring gangs in the 1970s in an effort to stop the violence. We’d stand in the area, letting the gang members know that we were there and that we were neutral, not choosing one side or another. They respected us and, mostly, our presence prevented violence from happening.

I wish more Philadelphians would join together to take action like this now. As part of the peace patrols I’ve been doing since before Thanksgiving with a small number of community members on weekend nights, we head to neighborhoods with likely violence (which in our new lawless Philadelphia can be nearly any neighborhood). We carry flashlights and wear reflective vests. We interact with community members and let people know we are there. I have tried to get more people to join us in this mission, but I rarely get volunteers, even from those who claim to want to help end the violence.

Some will also argue we don’t need the National Guard, because the city’s infusion of money for anti-gun violence programs is a step in the right direction. But the lack of oversight and monitoring of these programs is problematic. We have no idea how helpful they are; during presentations, when the administration is asked repeatedly for specific details of their effectiveness, they cannot provide an answer. The dysfunctional relationship among those in government who are tasked to address this problem leaves Philadelphia’s citizenry as collateral damage.

How many more homicides, carjackings, and robberies, mainly of people of color, have to occur before something changes? Who is looking out for the kids and the elderly out here?

I will never forget the horror I felt when my granddaughter was shot. That is what keeps me going in my fight to make this city safer. I will keep going as long as I can. But I, and the rest of Philadelphia’s residents, need more help.

Jamal Johnson is a 65-year-old retired disabled Marine Corps veteran and retired postal worker. For the last five years, he’s led the march from Philadelphia to Washington’s Congressional Black Caucus to address community gun violence and police brutality.