Monroe County Legislator Willie Lightfoot called his friend and fellow barber Vincent Dotson a "gentle giant" who was trying to make a difference. (see a 2005 story that City Newspaper did on Dotson and other city barbers.)

Lightfoot held a press conference today to let people know about Dotson, another person lost to violence. Dotson was the owner of Vinney's Barber Shop on Dewey Avenue.

His death last Saturday evening was the city's 44th homicide.

Barbers and beauticians play a special role in the African-American community. Their shops are gathering places to hang with friends and share information. They are also targets for robberies, Lightfoot said, because they are cash businesses.

Dotson, like Lightfoot, was a member of the activist group "Cut the Violence." Barbers and beauticians throughout the African-American community have for the last three years held events to raise funds for families in need and collect toys for tots.

But Dotson's work with Cut the Violence was mostly about mentoring the young people who sat in his chair for 30 to 45 minutes, many of whom were heading down the wrong path.

Dotson, like community activist Jimmy Slater before him, was cut down in the line of duty, figuratively speaking. It's something that angers and frustrates Lightfoot, who worries that the city is running out of options.

"We're so sick of this violence in our community," Lightfoot said.

Concerned that programs like Zero Tolerance, Yes, I Told, and Cut the Violence don't seem to be reducing violence in the city, Lightfoot said that he wouldn't abandon these programs, but more needs to be done to help parents and families. Much of the problem, Lightfoot said, begins in the home.

"The county has been putting money into these efforts and so has the city, but we can't put this all on the backs of our police officers," Lightfoot said. "They need our help. Everyone in this community needs to be more involved because solving this problem takes more than police officers on the street."

As a show of unity, barbers and beauticians will be wearing their smocks to Dotson's wake and funeral at Millard Latimer and Son Funeral Home at 983 South Plymouth Avenue.