‘We must have presence on our streets’: Community Peace Patrols are walking through the city to prevent violence

When Jamal Johnson slips on his bright yellow safety vest and heads out on a neighborhood patrol, he admits to feeling some nerves.

“I feel nervous all the time,” the 66 year-old gun violence activist said. “But at the same time, as we look at the fear and the people’s faces in Philly, especially the elderly and the children, and realize that they don’t feel they can even go to the store or go to school, I just feel compelled to try to do something about it.”

Johnson is known around Philly for his activism, including his yearly march to Washington to demand stricter gun laws. But his Peace Patrol walks are much shorter. He’s one of the regulars with nonprofit Philly Truce’s patrol program, which recruits volunteers to walk through communities most affected by gun violence. Their goal is not to intervene in conflicts, but to serve as a deterrence for violence, share information, and show community members that others care about their safety.

“I believe in presence. We must have presence on our streets,” Johnson said.

Philly Truce was founded by Mazzie Casher and Steven Pickens, both from North Philly. The men have been friends since high school, so Casher could tell Pickens’ heart was heavy as they talked about the city’s rising violence back in 2020.

“We all experienced [violence] growing up,” said Casher, 48. “I’ve seen dead bodies in dumpsters. I’ve seen people get shot at. It’s always been a problem ... you almost don’t think anything about it, you know? It’s like an understood baseline.”

“I think the relationship with the police has to be just renegotiated.”

The two decided to create a free phone app, which people can use anonymously to quickly ask for conflict mediation from Philly Truce members.

“We believe [that] we are being preventative and preemptive and not producing the next desperado,” Casher said.

But they wanted to do more than deescalate tense situations where violence may have already occurred.

Over Thanksgiving weekend in 2021, Philly Truce partnered with other violence prevention organizations to call for a citywide ceasefire. They held their first community patrols over those four days, and although there were undoubtedly a multitude of contributing factors aside from Philly Truce’s work, shootings and homicides were both down compared with the same week in 2020, according to statistics from the Philadelphia Police Department.

Last year, Philly Truce organized 100 days of Peace Patrols from January to April, spending three days a week walking through various neighborhoods. The group believed the program was having an impact, but it was difficult to sustain; there just weren’t enough volunteers.

“It was just exhausting,” Casher said about taking a smaller group all around the city.

But even with homicides down this year compared with last, Philly Truce restarted its patrols. When Casher and Pickens thought of how to build a more sustainable model, they decided to turn to the youth.

» READ MORE: Halfway through 2023, shootings are down and more killings are solved. But trauma persists.

Philly Truce created a mentorship program called Safe City Boys, in which teenagers learn how to become peer mediators. Now, the Safe City Boys will join in the Peace Patrols with their adult mentors throughout 10 Philly neighborhoods this summer.

Before the start of each patrol, with help from their partner organization Life Outside the Streets, the Safe City Boys will also lead training for patrol volunteers about mediation and how traumatic experiences affect the brain.

“The objective of going to different communities is to bring the awareness, bring the training, just bring the idea that — look, y’all can do something about this as a community, you who live right around here,” Casher said. “Let’s go out together.”

“I’m the OG most of the time that I’m out there,” said Leroy Muhammad, 67, another Peace Patrol regular and gun violence prevention activist. Muhammad grew up in West Philly’s Haddington neighborhood, and remembers how close everyone on his block was with each other. But things have changed since then, he said.

“People have gotten away from really being neighbors, so we need to bring [that] back.”

He’s encouraged to see younger adults and teenagers such as the Safe City Boys taking initiative to prevent violence in their communities.

“As the old guard is beginning to age and move on to other things or physically not be present anymore, we need a younger generation, particularly to be able to talk the language of [their peers],” he said.

“People have gotten away from really being neighbors, so we need to bring [that] back.”

Those involved with the Peace Patrol made clear that they don’t see themselves as replacing the police to prevent violence, though. They think of their work as supplemental; they want to strengthen community bonds that help prevent violence before it gets onto the police radar, and one day hopefully work alongside police to handle difficult conflicts that still arise.

“I think the relationship with the police has to be just renegotiated,” Casher said.

“We’re not trying to replace the police, but we are trying to at least let the community feel like they can start to ... live their life somewhat like they did before they [came] under siege by all of this gun violence,” Johnson said.

“All we want is for people to look and realize that there are people out here who care enough to at least be present, in the hopes that you will change your mind about doing something or hurt the people that live out here. That’s all we’re trying to do.”

To find an upcoming Peace Patrol in your neighborhood, go to phillytruce.com.