They hope 10,000 Men Volunteers can take a bite out of city crime

AFTER MORE THAN a week of community rallies and a monthlong media blitz, organizers of "10,000 Men: A Call to Action" hope to pack the Liacouras Center Sunday with volunteers ready to patrol Philadelphia's toughest neighborhoods.

"We want to do three things," Rahim Islam, one of the organizers, said yesterday. "We want to inspire people, educate them and instruct them."

The volunteers who attend the rally will be assigned to training sessions in coming days and eventually deployed as volunteer "peacekeepers" in crime hot spots.

The effort, which is enthusiastically supported by Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, is targeted mostly at recruiting African-American men.

"This is our problem, and we have to solve it," Islam said of the rising tide of violent crime in the city. "We have to get a message to black men that they have to take responsibility."

Spokesman Norm Bond said about 4,000 men have already registered online. He said the goal is get the peacekeeper patrols started within 30 days of Sunday's event, though the timing will depend in part on the number of volunteers who show up.

Organizers haven't released details about the kind of training volunteers will get or who will conduct it, but much of it will be done in schools and city recreation centers.

Johnson has said he wants men to patrol in large numbers, but avoid confrontations with criminals. District police commanders will help identify high-crime areas and stay in touch with those on patrol.

The effort has drawn support from dozens of community organizations. The Liacouras Center, which holds 10,200, should provide a ready gauge of whether the hopes for 10,000 volunteers will be met.

One organizer, music producer Charles "Charlie Mack" Alston,said the effort could be a model for other cities struggling to cope with rising violence.

"They want to do this in Detroit, in L.A.," Mack said. "The whole world is watching us."

Speakers Sunday will include record mogul Kenny Gamble, Johnson, Mack, Mayor Street, Temple professor Molefi Kete Asante, and, Bond said, some celebrities he couldn't yet identify.

"We don't want people coming for celebrities," Bond said. "This is a community organizing effort."

The Call to Action doesn't yet have its own organization. It remains a voluntary association of supporters including Johnson, Gamble, Alston, radio host E. Steven Collins and others.

Bond said the city is helping with some staff time and training sites, but isn't directly funding the effort. Most of the money advanced so far has come from Gamble and Alston.

Doors will open at the Liacouras Center at noon. Bond said those who've already registered online or at community events should bring their receipt or registration number with them.

The last of a series of community rallies to build support for the campaign is planned for noon today at Germantown and Chelten avenues in Germantown. *