Instead of demanding others do their work for them, a faith-base neighborhood watch group has formed to help stop black-on-black violence in their community.  What’s more, they’ve had a remarkable record of success, making the neighborhoods safe for children and teenagers to play and families in general.

It should serve as a potential role-model for black communities plagued by violence.

All it took initially were a handful of people fed up with the endless cycle of violence to get involved and do something about it themselves, instead of pleading for outsiders to fix the problem.

Shootings have stopped and the quality of life has gone up sharply thanks to their work.  This could work in urban neighborhoods across the country as a means to tackle inner-city violent crime.

Boots on the Ground: Faith-Based Watch Group Helps Quell Neighborhood Violence

By Clifford ParodyLakeland, FL (The Ledger) | The street is peppered with duplexes, with roadside couches and collections of unwanted belongings scattered here and there. People sit in front of their houses, laughing and talking, on folding chairs, cinder blocks, upturned buckets and tailgates. Music rings out through cars, cellphones and boom boxes. Children run back and forth across the road munching on snow cones and smiling while Boots on the Ground, a camo-clad group of seven people, marches along in two-by-two formation, praying loudly.