The Rev. Avery Comithier, founder of Pastors on Patrol, points up Albany's Madison Avenue.

Rev. Avery Comithier of Albany's Elijah Missionary Church.

Pastor Avery Comithier of Elijah Missionary Church speaks about violence in Albany while standing outside 20 Second Ave. on May 2, 2014, in Albany.

ALBANY — Everybody, it seems, knows Avery Comithier.

Walk with the pastor around the South End, as I did on a recent afternoon, and you're constantly greeted with, well, greetings.

"What's going on, Bishop?"

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"Hey Rev!"

"Hello Ace!"

Ace? That, Comithier explained, is left over from his pitching days. Thirty years have passed, but the nickname sticks.

As many of you already know, Comithier is the longtime pastor at the Elijah Missionary Church on Second Avenue. He is also the founder of Pastors on Patrol, which is why I was walking with him, the Rev. Franklin Alton and two city police officers, Joel Caldwell and Daniel Webster.

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Comithier's effort attempts to stem Albany's cycle of violence by confronting problems before they escalate. It is, in a way, old-fashioned community policing but with a religious angle.

The patrols launched........

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