Former Gang Leaders Help Clean Up a Chicago School

Chicago's Penn Elementary School has seen a marked reduction in violence among students this year, and administrators say it's all thanks to two unlikely new role models, formerly known as "Shotgun" and "Black." As the Chicago Tribune writes, the two men are ex-Vice Lord kingpins who've helped transform the troubled Chicago School.

For years, Derek Brown and Chevez Fitzpatrick ran drug operations for the Holy City of Vice Lords, a gang that recruited at this very school. There are bullet holes in the school's exterior wall that came from gunfights in which Brown was involved. But four years ago, the two men decided to turn their lives around. They started working with CeaseFire — a groundbreaking initiative that we've written about in this space before. Now, the two men run a boxing training program at the school, act as mentors and participate in interventions when a student is suspected of gang involvement.

Gangs act as a magnet in neighborhoods in which kids face a desperate lack of employment and educational opportunities, and it takes a strong antidote to stop such violence from spiraling. Former gang members like Brown and Fitzpatrick can be far more effective than law enforcement officers, school administrators — and even sometimes parents — in showing kids another path, and diffusing violent situations before they escalate.

(Below, you can watch a great video with interviews of Brown, Fitzpatrick and school administrators from the Tribune.)

Across the country, innovative programs like CeaseFire and Kansas City's Aim4Peace are preventing crime and stopping gang growth in a way law enforcement can't. What's more, these programs give a voice to the thousands of young men who reach their 30s and want to leave violence behind. When someone leaves prison with the desire to change his life and make a difference, there should be opportunities to contribute. CeaseFire offers both a post-release job opportunity and an effective tool to stop the cycle of violence.

Brown says he's working to prevent 5th graders from becoming the next "Shotgun."

"Sitting out there in front of Penn School, watching the kids throwing rocks at cars and then taking off running, it was a like a repeat, it was Derek ... again," Derek Brown told the Tribune. "I had to stop that cycle. I had to become that mentor."

Via: The Crime Report

Photo Credit: Jay Woodworth