ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — After an eruption of gun violence on Albany streets during the fourth of July, Albany community-based crime fighting groups are putting out a call to action for parents in the community.
“It is time for all hands-on deck approach to saving our youth,” said Eric Thompson, the Violence Task Force Coordinator for the City of Albany. Before becoming a part of the taskforce, he worked for many years with SNUG and alongside several other community crime fighting groups in the capital region. “We can’t solve these new problems with some of these old solutions.”
He said the kids need to be reached in a way that they will listen. “Music is a powerful medium. Music is one of the few entities that every part of our brain is operating when it’s on. People bond through music; people build their identities through music.”
So, with help of the community-based group “Clean Up the Block” Thompson came up with a song to reach the kids, “I made a drill song called “Ceasefire”, and I think the title speaks for itself. It’s all about how young people can recognize there’ an alternative future to this gangster identity. It’s an alternative future to death, jail or walking up and down the street looking for a high.” The taskforce coordinator went on to explain, “We have to make a breakthrough. We have to let these kids know that we care and that we’re here and that they are important, that they are valuable.”
Bishop Avery Comithier, founder of Pastors on Patrol on Monday laid to rest a teen who was shot and killed on city streets just two weeks ago. He said the parents all say the same thing to him, “Number one thing that they tell me is, ‘if I only knew. If I only knew’.” The bishop said he wants to change that and that he is calling on Albany parents to do their part.
He said, “That’s why I want to call this mass meeting, to let parents know what to look out for. You know, even little traits, things that you think is irrelevant could be life or death.” The bishop went on to explain that programs for kids are great ideas, but also said there needs to be follow-through in order to keep kids on the right path. “They provide the facility, the programs, but we got to monitor them from the program to the house. So, there’s a balance. That’s what pastors on patrol was doing.”
For more information on or if you want to participate in the bishops’ call to action meeting please call (838) 207-2867 for more.
The song “Ceasefire” is expected to be released on July 18, 2025.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
