The 'God Squad' is nothing new. Ministers have been doing this good work
in a number of cities (Chicago, Philadelphia, New York) with little or
no recognition for a long time. Some of those cities also have strong
night ministries. The reliable presence evolved because of the
commitment of those who choose to be directly involved, this work is not
a task that can be assigned. There are ministers doing the same work in
Minneapolis, every day.

It is not often that names are known beyond the community served.
Perhaps that's the point!

Roberta Englund
Folwell Neighborhood

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf
Of Thomas Searles
Sent: Sunday, January 04, 2004 11:05 AM
To: Minneapolis Issues Forum
Subject: Re: [Mpls] St. Paul God squad

Thank you for bringing this article to the attention of the list
members.
Here is what I found most interesting about it -- I did not recognize
the
names of the ministers doing this work. I compare this the Reverends
McAffe
and Stanton in Minneapolis who are constantly in the news.

While the ministers in St. Paul (Devin Miller, Divar Kemp, Walter
Grantham,
and Darryl Spence) work with the police, the Reverends McAffe and
Stanton
seem to be more interested in promoting themselves by accusing the
Minneapolis police of wrong doing at the slightest provocation. They
seems
to be little respect between the Minneapolis Police Department and the
Reverends McAfee and Stanton. Compare this to a quote from the article
by a
St. Paul Police official regarding the God Squad, "They have credibility
in
the community and they have credibility with us," said Harrington..."

The last paragraph of the article seems be the most telling. "The
difference, if you ask me, is that their mayor doesn't listen to them,
their
chief doesn't listen to them," Kemp said. "Our chief listens to us. But
that
was earned."

Tom Searles
Waconia, Twp.

>
> I found the article below from Friday's Strib to be pretty
interesting.
What
> do people think about Minneapolis cops working with local ministers in
a
> similar fashion?
>
> I hope it's something that gets consideration from our new police
chief.
>
> St. Paul cops rely on a higher power
>
> http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4297209.html
>
> Mark Snyder
> Windom Park
>

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