Former gang members’ work to stop violence is already working, group, Richland leaders say
They’re calling themselves “street ambassadors,” and the group of former gang members say their efforts to curb violence in Richland County and other areas is already working after only six weeks.
“A lot of people don’t speak the language of our community,” said Alonzo Canzater, one of the street ambassadors who is now a minister. “We’re not just trying to reach gang bangers but our communities.”
They’re not the only ones who believe their work is effective. Law enforcement officials, who typically would be considered antagonistic to ex-gang members, agree.
In the last two weeks, Richland County and Columbia have had a decline in violence, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook told the street ambassadors Saturday.
Holbrook, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott and the county’s top prosecutor, 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, sat across a table from about a dozen street ambassadors in an administrative building on the Word of God Church campus off Broad River Road.
“There has been a downtick” in violent crimes, such as major shootings, Gipson said.
And that downtick comes as summer starts and kids are out of school, a time when crime usually increases.
As The State has reported, the street ambassadors have formed a group called Getting a New Generation Started in Peace, or G.A.N.G.S in Peace, and they’re calling for a truce between rival factions, telling people to put their guns down and working within communities to address violence and other issues. They hope that starting these efforts will make this summer free of shootings — or at least fewer.
During Saturday’s meeting, the group discussed more than the nascent coalition’s success. Also on the table were solutions to youth violence, the negative impact of Black youth stereotypes in the news and what the group wants from police.
One of things they want from the police — stay out of their way.
‘On call’
The police aren’t always called when crimes or conflicts happen, said Jay Smith, another of the ambassadors.
“We’re trying to put ourselves on call all the time,” he said.
And while they’re doing their work, the ambassadors don’t want police interfering and worsening a situation that could be resolved by the ambassadors.
Smith called this a “safe passage” from the police.
Police might be able to arrest people but the ambassadors can broker truces when conflicts that could lead to shootings arise. That approach also keeps young people from getting slapped with a criminal charge that could harm their future prospects, members of the group said.
Saturday, it was acknowledged that the group, despite being an independent organization with its own ideas, will have to interact with police. Suggestions for how the the group and law enforcement agencies could interact positively included getting law enforcement to steer resources and money into areas that need it and that suffer the most violence.
The ambassadors could also steer young people to activities and programs, like sports events, sponsored by law enforcement, the two sides agreed.
Challenges
Giving young people positive outlets and activities was one of the main solutions to curbing violence that the ambassadors discussed.
“If we can get them something productive to do, we got their minds,” said Lavar Baker, one of the ambassadors.
Getting youth something productive to do is one of the biggest challenges he sees, Baker said.
A more basic problem is getting young people to those activities, Holbrook said. He hears all the time that kids don’t have the transportation to get to places, causing agitation to build and spill over. Bike donations to communities was one solution offered.
One of the other challenges is teaching youth good decision making, Smith said.
As former gang members who have turned their old affiliations into a positive, the ambassadors are in a distinct position to teach youth about decision making, the group discussed.
Being consistently there for youth will not only teach them, but be a step toward preventing shootings.
“It’s about what they do when they’re away from us,” Smith said.
‘What we’re here for’
Short-term solutions won’t solve all of the challenges identified in the group’s discussion.
Black youth are almost always the victims of shootings in Richland County, Canzater said. He sees it in the news all the time.
The pictures of Black youth portrayed in news reports of violence make those youth have a negative self image and feel worthless, ambassadors emphasized. This needs to change.
Black youth are dealing with poverty, distrust of police for reasons such as over-policing and community trauma from policing. All these are roadblocks to curbing violence, according to the group.
“These kids feel hopeless and reckless,” said Judah Loc, an ambassador. “You got to give them something to live for.”
Making sure youth live to grow and be men like them, who have “redeemed” themselves, is the ultimate goal of their anti-violence summer campaign, group members said.
“That’s what we’re here for today,” Baker said. “To save lives.”
Editor’s note: The State reported June 2 that Saturday’s meeting would include gang leaders after several sources said gang leaders would attend. Participants on Saturday described themselves as former gang members.
This story was originally published June 4, 2022 at 4:22 PM.