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The United Black Clergy of Westchester hold a "Stop the Violence" summit at Grace Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon
    Over 200 Mount Vernon citizens attended a well organized anti-violence summit at Grace Baptist Church Tuesday night, March 3, sponsored by members of The United Black Clergy of Westchester.
     Mount Vernon has been plagued with unprecedented violence lately, resulted in 15 homicides in the last 15 months. As a result, leaders of the religious community, city officials and residents have put together an initiative known as the S.O.S. Coalition - for save our seeds, hoping to curtail the violence within the streets of Mount Vernon.
    There have been many similar gatherings in the past to find ways to stop Mount Vernon's violence, but all prior efforts have faded unsuccessfully. But the current effort seems to be more promising, since it is a concerted effort by the three major entities within Mount Vernon - City Hall, the school district and the the religious community, led by The United Black Clergy of Westchester   
     The March 3rd summit consisted of the following impressive panel of dignitaries, or better yet, powerbrokers:

• Rev. W. Darin Moore

• D.A Janet DiFiore

• Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson

• Mayor Clinton I. Young

• Superintendent W. L. Sawyer

• Police Commissioner David Chong

• Judge Arlene Oliver, Town of Greenburg

     Acting as the summit's moderator was the Rev. Richardson, who opened by stating: "This effort is about our children, our community, and not allowing our community to waste away and nobody doing anything about it. We have the people in this room that can fix this problem. It is just a matter of us equipping ourselves to move forward."
     The summit lasted nearly three hours, with many in the audience presenting ideas to the panel on the type of action needed to put an end to the unprecedented violence that is gripping the city of Mount Vernon on an almost daily basis.
     "We are looking for the community to say, "enough is enough." If the Ku Klux Klan came into Mount Vernon and killed one African-American, we would be in the streets and we would all be filled with a sense of outrage, Yet, when young members of our community kill each other, there are no protests," said Rev. Moore.
     The Mount Vernon Police Department was discussed at length by some of the panel members, since there seems to be a great sense of distrust between the police and many members of the community. Rev. Richardson made mention of the fact that most Mount Vernon police officers live outside of Mount Vernon, and that is contributing to some of the problems between the community and the police. Another issue brought up was the fact that there is a serious lack of a police foot patrol presence in the areas where most of the crime is taking place.
     Rev. Richardson suggested that a special Police Enforcement Task Force be created in order to establish greater communication between the community and the police, and many in the audience volunteered.
     Thanks to great input from the residents in attendance, the following Task Forces were created to find ways to combat the violence in Mount Vernon:

• Police Enforcement Task Force

• Drugs

• Education

• Family Parenting

• Job/Employment

• Ethics and Values

• Program Development for young adults and Mt. Vernon's youth

• Outreach

• Media

• Wellness

• Community Beautification

• Justice System

     Superintendent Sawyer was very critical of many Mount Vernon parents, blaming them for not setting the proper example needed in the guidance of their children. At one point he stated how adults in Mount Vernon need to refrain from using profanity while in the company of their children, especially while attending sporting events.  He also stated that the system needs to change, since some of his students at times get assaulted, the perpetrator serves his suspension and is back to school within a week and sitting next to the victim once again.
     District Attorney DiFiori pledged all the resources available within her office to assist the group with their ambitious goals.
    According to Rev. Richardson, all the members of above stated Task Forces will be conducting two meetings prior to the next summit taking place on March 31, at Grace Baptist Church (7:00 PM).

Rev. W. Franklyn Richardson

Rev. W. Darin Moore

Mayor Clinton I. Young

D.A Janet DiFiore

Police Commissioner David Chong

Superintendent W. L. Sawyer

New York State Senator. Ruth Hassell-Thompson

Judge Arlene Oliver, Town of Greenburg