Police Interventions with Children and Teens

Posted by on January 17, 2011

Cities Invited to Apply for Training Program to Improve Police Interventions with Children and Teens

One On One: Connecting Cops & KidsNLC and the Fred Rogers Company invite cities to apply for a no-cost training program that enhances community policing efforts and public safety by improving police interactions with children and teens.

Children are almost always present when police officers perform their duties. Encounters with police can make a profound impact on children. Children also can make officers’ work much easier or harder and considerably safer or more dangerous.  The Connecting Cops & Kids training program gives officers the tools they need to build trust among children and families in the communities they serve; increases their safety and effectiveness while on patrol; helps them promote greater cooperation and reporting of criminal activity; strengthens partnerships with social service agencies that work with the same youth officers encounter on a daily basis; and enhances officers’ ability to improve public safety.

At the heart of the program is a series of professionally-produced documentary videos that serve as jumping-off points for discussions. Using a flexible curriculum, the program builds on expertise both in child development and the day-to-day reality of police work, having been developed by The Fred Rogers Company in collaboration with the Boston, New Haven, and Pittsburgh police departments, the National Center for Children Exposed to Violence, and the Child Witness to Violence Project.  Hundreds of officers, from veterans to new recruits, credit the program with helping them develop new skills and increasing their awareness of strategies and partners they can turn to when dealing with children and teens:

* “No police officer should graduate from the Academy without this training.” — Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Police Chief Darrel Stephens
* “Cops & Kids gave me and my department some very valuable resources for developing our community oriented policing unit. It helped us reach kids and reach out to other police departments to learn from them. The program also helps us make the case that preventive policing really does work.” — Curtis Boyd, Lead Community Resource Officer, Port Authority Police of Allegheny County, Pa.
* “This training opens officers’ eyes to the ways that kids can be allies when it comes to fighting crime. It causes officers to look at juveniles not as a problem, but as a wealth of information. If they trust you, they’re going to help you. It also teaches officers that other agencies in the community—which we sometimes think of as roadblocks—can be great assets and partners.” —Thomas Klawinski, Detective Sargeant, New Kensington, Pa., Police Department

In recognition of the program’s impact in Greater Pittsburgh, where it has been extensively piloted, the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing is supporting a series of local training sessions in communities across the nation. Trainings will be held at 14 sites, as well as online, at no cost to participating cities or their police departments and officers. Follow-up support will be provided for local trainers interested in facilitating additional workshops.

» Learn more about the program and how to apply

http://www.nlc.org/ASSETS/CE89E985F9F14A0DA033BE21043F76E1/IYEF-FRC-Cops-and-Kids-RFP-Jan-11.pdf

» Visit the program website

http://www.fci.org/cops-kids/index.html