Pastor John Taylor on Trenton violence: We must teach kids how to become ‘change agents’
TRENTON » Leaders from around the capital city participated in a virtual town hall meeting led by AG Gurbir Grewal hours after his office announced the takedown of the violent “Get Money Boys” gang in the capital city.
Holding court over the “Turn the Tide: Pushing back on Violence in Trenton” virtual discussion, Grewal was joined by the governor’s chief counsel Matt Platkin, Pastor John Taylor of the Capital City Community Coalition and Brittany Aydelotte of the Capital City Youth Violence
Coalition.
The discussion, part of National Gun Violence Awareness Month, was held as Trenton finds itself on the precipice of what could become another historically bloody year, on par with levels of violence seen during the gang wars of the 2000s.
The leaders stressed there’s no silver bullet to eradicate gun violence.
The systemic problem must be attacked from different angles, from addressing socioeconomic disparities that lead to hopelessness among youthful offenders to restoring trust between law enforcement and residents.
Platkin said Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy had taken several steps to tackle the violence across the Garden State and in the capital city.
He appointed a gun czar and championed gun-control bills that have strengthened New Jersey’s alreadystrict gun laws, including cracking down on the manufacturers of so-called
“ghost guns.”
He pledged Murphy’s continued commitment to making Trenton’s streets safer.
The city received $4.5 million in funding for a State Police real-time crime center to bolster the lawenforcement presence in the capital city, but Platkin said a multi-layered approach is needed.
“Violence doesn’t just happen at which point the violence occurs,” he said.
Taylor, the pastor at Friendship Baptist Church, wants more of a corporate commitment in Trenton children.
Calling poverty one of the biggest contributors to the violence, he said kids in the capital city must have educational and entertainment options to give them a chance at success.
Single moms are often pressed between paying monthly bills and feeding their children, he said of the economic plight.
“That shouldn’t be,” Taylor said. “We have to teach our young people about civics so they can become change agents . ... This is not gonna go away overnight. Corporate America can’t be on the corridor and don’t invest in the capital city, don’t invest in children . ... You just locked up 16. You’re lock up 16 more. We can’t continue to go down that line.”
Grewal, the state’s top cop, said Trenton can’t arrest itself out of the problem. He pledged more police-reforming measures in the wake of the killing of George Floyd as a way to restore trust between the community and officers.
“We just want to know the cops and want them to know us,” Grewal said he hears from young people.
But he agreed some offenders like the criminal enterprise his office just busted up haven’t been dissuaded by law enforcement’s efforts or the global health crisis.
“The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t deter the ‘Get Money Boys’ from getting money,” he said. “It’s about breaking cycles.”