Be Wary of "Emergency" Labels

Today's top story in the Courier News has to do with violence now being a "health crisis" in Union County. Freeholders have passed a resolution to that effect at the request of Salaam Ismial of the United Youth Council, who advocates bringing The Rev. Al Sharpton's "mobilization skills" to bear on the problem in 16 municipalities including Plainfield.

On his web site, Ismail called in November for 11 urban municipalities each to declare a "state of emergency" due to hometown violence. Ismial bases his call on language in the New Jersey Civil Defense & Disaster Control Act, he says in a TV interview at the link above. In his new call, he invokes the Center for Disease Control's declaration of violence as a public health crisis.

Certainly violence, especially by gangs and among young people in general, is on the rise. Videos of school fights have become a popular subset of online entertainment. Gang violence overlays and all too often impacts daily life for regular folks in their own neighborhoods.

However, Plainfield already has a flawed example of applying the "emergency" term to gang violence in the WBLS episode. Al Sharpton was here for that event and spoke for about five minutes. Money was spent on an "emergency" basis without taking the necessary steps under state law. That was in the summer of 2010. If Ismail's assessment is correct, the problem is just as bad or worse today.

When is the last time outside forces came in to bring order to Plainfield? Some might say during the civil disturbances of the late 1960s. What outside forces could possibly be brought in here that wouldn't have the same drastic effect on the city?

Any unilateral declaration of an emergency requiring outside intervention means handing control to outsiders, whether they be self-appointed experts like Ismial or governmental agencies. Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski calls violence a national problem that needs to be worked on at the local level. Why not first identify what Plainfield entities are working on it and find out how they are doing before going outside or letting outsiders define the situation for the community?

This could be a mission for Freeholder Linda Carter. As a former councilwoman, she advocated for young people. Her perspective should be more informed and helpful than that of an outsider who wants to lump Plainfield with a bunch of other cities in trouble. Let's hear from her before we endorse the notion of salvation from outsiders, even a national figure like Al Sharpton.

Plainfield has at least 100 churches, maybe 200 if you count the ones still striving for a church home. We have never yet seen a tally of their many efforts for youth, including mentoring and nurturing on a daily basis Other city-based agencies address the same needs. Never mind the panels and talking heads, what is actually going on in the neighborhoods to get young people through those dangerous years of temptation to negativity?

The news article today cites the need for outside funding to address the problem of violence. If Plainfield can't present its own case on what is being done and where funding should be applied, it is likely to be put in the hands of the outside experts who claim to have their fingers on the city's pulse or else to have a general cure-all program of their own devising.

Residents are being tapped for various task forces on issues such as the PMUA and economic development. Is there enough interest and energy left for one more, on preventing youth violence? Or if there is one already, may we hear from it? Hope for Plainfield, from within Plainfield, is needed now.

--Bernice