'What's Going On': Facts Inside the Fiction

2 years ago

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While "What's Going On" and its "Coalition of Committed Citizens" are fictions, citizen groups organized to counter violence, crime and related social issues are a growing force across America. Many of these groups are powered by ex-offenders -- former criminals who've served prison sentences and now "take to the streets" to find solutions to "beefs" (rivalries and grudges) that often result in bullets flying through our cities.

One of the most prominent gang-intervention groups is Washington, D.C.'s Alliance of Concerned Men, joined on our capital's streets now by the more recently formed Peaceoholics.

Several American cities besides Washington have experience with anti-gang citizen groups, including Kansas City, Mo. and Los Angeles.

Most of these groups are non-profit organizations that rely on donations, foundation grants and contracts with government agencies to provide a variety of services that include GED training, life skills classes, mentoring programs for juvenile offenders and training seminars for gang-intervention workers. While many groups are independent, they usually ally with government and other community groups.

Gang-intervention groups are not without controversy and problems, but many such programs have been praised by police chiefs and corrections officials.

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