How Addison Sarter Will Implement Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Solution For Crime and Gun Violence. 

Background and Quick Facts

 

Whether you want to FUND the police or DEFUND the police, UNTIL we deal with Chronic Black Male Unemployment in DC, Gun Violence will continue to rise.  

95 percent of all people shot and killed in DC were Black, with the majority being Black men, between the ages 18-34.

95 percent of all people who shot and killed somebody in DC were Black, with the majority being Black men between the ages of 18-34.

There are only 200-500 people responsible for the majority of gun violence in DC. It is only a small percentage of Black men, and NOT the majority.

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Dr.  Martin Luther King's Plan 

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According to Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health, there is a direct link between chronic male unemployment and gun violence. Chronic male unemployment was shown to be a bigger driver of gun violence than poverty. The Department of Public Health, found that neighborhoods that are poor but have lower rates of chronic male unemployment have lower rates of gun violence.  Neighborhoods that are poor and have higher rates of chronic male unemployment have higher rates of gun violence. 

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If we want to reduce gun violence, we MUST reduce chronic male unemployment by providing JOBS to neighborhoods with chronic male unemployment.

Addison will do this by implementing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s solution for chronic male unemployment.  Dr. King’s solution for unemployment was to provide human service jobs for people “whom traditional jobs are not available.”

Addison will would provide DC residents who are at most risk for gun violence, with human service jobs. MPD has a database of individuals in DC who are at most risk for gun violence. There are an estimated 200-500 people responsible for the majority of gun-violence in DC.  Addison will simply give human service jobs to these 200-500 individuals.  As mentioned, we know who these individuals are because they are on MPD’s database for individuals who are at most risk for gun violence.  The statistics show that 86 percent of all gun violence victims and suspects were known by the criminal justice system.  This means we can predict who is at risk for gun violence, and therefore we can prevent it.

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Dr. Martin Luther King said that human service jobs had the potential to “change the scene of unemployment’ and that:

 “New forms of work that enhance the social good will have to be devised for those for whom traditional jobs are not available.”

Addison knows the perfect “ forms of work”   for  whom “traditional jobs are not available” because he has firsthand experience doing them. They are called "Homeless Outreach Jobs."

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Homelessness is not just an issue in DC but a national crisis. There are over 2,000 homeless people in DC and about 800 homeless people who sleep outside on a given night.

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Having obtained certification in Homeless Management Information Systems, Addison has worked on the front lines addressing homelessness in DC as a case manager.  While working for DC’s Comprehension Street Outreach, one of the main responsibilities of Addison’s job was to drive around and pass out blankets, snacks, and hygiene products to homeless people. Addison has witnessed firsthand the impact of providing necessities such as blankets, snacks, and hygiene products to homeless individuals. There are thousands of unemployed Black men in DC, who have been impacted by mass incarceration, that can do those roles. You do not need a college degree, let alone a HS Diploma or GED to simply go around town passing out supplies to homeless people.

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Sixty years ago, Dr. King spoke about the same idea of giving human service jobs to people in poverty and with no college degrees.

Dr King: 

“Rigid credentials have monopolized the entry routes into human services employment. But…less educated people can do many of the tasks now performed by the highly educated as well as many other new and necessary tasks.”

Dr. King is spot on when he said “less educated people can do many of the tasks now performed by the highly educated as well as many other new and necessary tasks”

Dr. King: “The growth of the human services should be rapid. It should be developed in a manner ensuring that the jobs that will be generated will not primarily be for professionals with college and postgraduate diplomas but for people from the neighborhoods who can perform important functions for their neighbors.”

As Dr. King put it, the jobs should be given to “people from the neighborhoods who can perform important functions for their neighbors, not just for those with college and post graduate degrees.”

Dr. King : “the traditional way of providing manpower for these jobs ‘degree-granting programs’ cannot fill all the niches that are opening up. The traditional job requirements are a barrier to attaining an adequate supply of personnel, especially if the number of jobs expands to meet existing need.”

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Addison has worked human service jobs for the past ten years, at some of DC’s most reputable Human Service organizations. Addison is currently a case manager and is professionally trained to help connect DC’s most impoverished and mentally and physically ill residents to housing, healthcare, and food assistance. Addison is also professionally trained to deescalate situations with DC’s most mentally ill residents. This means Addison is professionally trained to train other men how to do these things.

In conclusion, studies show that if we want to reduce gun violence, we MUST reduce chronic male unemployment, specifically amongst Black men. Addison will reduce gun violence by implementing Dr. King’s solution for chronic male unemployment. That solution is, providing human service jobs to people on the list of DC’s most at risk individuals for gun violence.

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Besides Dr. King's plan, Addison will establish neighborhood patrol units.  As a child Addison remembers when his father started the Orange Hat Patrol when they were living in the Langdon Park/ Brentwood NE DC area and how his father and the men in his community were able to keep his residential area safe.  

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Cost

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Less than 1 percent of DC's 21 BILLION budget could eliminate unemployment and poverty amongst the 500 DC's residents who are driving the majority of gun violence in DC. 

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If we paid these 500 individuals between $80,000 to $100,000 annually to be homeless outreach workers, that would be between 40 million dollars to 50 million dollars annually. This is less than 1 percent of DC's annual 21 BILLION dollar budget.

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