Designed to encourage character development, physical fitness, good citizenship and patriotism, the IYEPA activities and classes incorporate many components of Police Academy training. To foster a new generation of Native law enforcement leaders and strengthen bonds with young people in their community, the Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho collaborated with its tribal police department to create the Indian Youth Explorer’s Police Academy (IYEPA).įunded with the support of a COPS Office microgrant, IYEPA is a sleep-away camp where young people, including non-Natives, learn police procedures, while also engaging in sports and other outdoor activities, including tipi building. Developed in response to studies indicating that many problems stem from incidents on the playground, the program promotes cooperative problem-solving behavior and bullying intervention techniques. Officers wearing program-branded tee shirts play with kids at recess, providing guidance and a feeling of safety to the schoolyard. Reports from Dream Court sites say that school attendance has improved and youth involvement with criminal activity been reduced.Ī fun program that reduces serious problems is Operation Recess, created with help from the Hopkins Minnesota Police Department (HPD) and funded by a grant from the COPS Office. Founded by Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, the 65 Dream Courts across the country offer opportunities for officers to build relationships with young people through free play, tournaments, Special Olympics Day, and other activities that encourage team work and fair play. The COPS Office also supports Dream Court™ sites and the programs they host. Badges for Baseball partners with law enforcement agencies, schools, and youth organizations to pair at-risk youth with mentors who use team sports to teach important life lessons and help kids build resilience, avoid drugs, and cope with other challenges. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. You can read more about PAL in Five Reasons to Start a PAL Chapter in Your Community in this month’s Dispatch.Īnother popular program is Badges for Baseball, created by the Cal Ripken Sr. The National Association of Police Athletic Leagues (NPAL) will help train and provide technical assistance for agencies wishing to start new PAL programs, including a “How to Start a PAL Program’ toolkit and resources list funded by the COPS Office. Coaching and MentoringĪmong the most widespread are the Police Athletics/Activities Leagues (PALs), which promote the prevention of juvenile crime by building relationships through engagement in sports, outdoor activities, education, and the arts, with activities ranging from football to cooking, lacrosse to leadership development. Below are a sampling of those we have supported with grant funding, which may inspire other departments to create their own programs. The COPS Office has been involved with many of these efforts, which range from summer camps to arts programs. Some of the programs they’ve developed are new to the field, and others have been around for a while, but all are replicable to one degree or another, and all have shown promise. Or that young people who lack good role models and guidance make bad choices, sometimes leading to criminal behavior.įor this very reason, volunteers from police and sheriff’s departments across the country are stepping up to provide the role models and mentoring these young adults need, changing lives in many cases and improving public safety at the same time. It wouldn’t come as news to anybody in law enforcement that many kids, especially those from disadvantaged communities, don’t trust cops.
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