How Neighborhood Policing is Making History in Boston (5)

Keep the Peace:
Learn the Past

The Road Ahead

Neighborhood policing done right takes place on a two-way street. In Boston, there are many programs working to facilitate more positive relationships between youth and police. The statistics indicate that these programs may be working. Violent crime in Boston's public schools was down over 20 percent in the 1995-96 school year compared to the previous year.

Two Boston-based programs working to cut juvenile crime and enlist youth in improving overall community safety are Youth and Police in Partnership (YPP) and Raising Issues for Safer Education (RISE). While Will Morales draws from his legacy of life in the streets to run YPP, Facing History applies more than 20 years of experience in creating caring school cultures to its work with RISE.

"I grew up having nothing," says Morales. "I think about what kinds of programs, institutions and organizations that I, as a young man, would have wanted to be involved in. I began to realize that I need to create or support programs that would have helped me when I was growing up."

YPP is certainly a program that might have improved the relationship between the police and Morales during his gang years. Today, Morales trains teenagers like Rafael, age 17, to facilitate roundtable conversations between youth and officers.

"When I first started YPP, I had a totally different mentality than I have now," says Rafael, whose father is in jail. "My parents used to tell me that the police are bad. That they want to snatch you up and take you to jail. Once you are in this program, you can teach other people what you learn, so that everyone doesn't feel hatred toward the police."

In addition to participating in roundtable discussions, Rafael and other members of the Jamaica Plain YPP work in partnership with police to organize the neighborhood crime watch and to conduct a clothing drive for the poor.

In the nearby Dorchester neighborhood, Facing History staff are working with students, teachers, principals, school police and city police to develop a critical force of peace keepers at Dorchester High School. The hope is that the peace keepers will be bonded by trustña trust which evolves out of an honest analysis of past dynamics between young people and authority figures, including police.

Through Facing History's RISE seminars, adults and teenagers delve into their personal histories to discuss issues such as questioning authority, maintaining self-respect, and suffering dehumanization. Edward, age 17, is a student at Dorchester High School. He describes the night he was searched by the police for no reason.

Edward says that he walked to the train station at the end of his street to pick up his cousin, when out of nowhere, two police officers approached and began to frisk him. "They were searching me rough," says Edward. "They couldn't find nothing on me. They ask you fast, so you give them the answers fast. Then they say 'slow down.' Then they say 'Get out of here or I'll find a reason to lock you up.' I say, 'I live on this street. What am I supposed to do?'"

He adds, "It gets to a point that you don't care no longer if they got a gun or a badge...When you get tired, it's like you get close to a certain limit."

Adrian, age 18, validates Edward's experience. Adrian vividly remembers how he felt when he too was searched for no apparent reason. "This anger just rose up in me," he says. "I thought, 'Look at this guy. I'm an honor roll student. I grew up in a Christian family. This officer's talking to me like I'm some kind of wild dog."

Since the introduction of neighborhood policing in Boston, Adrian says that he has developed more positive relationships with police. He also recognizes that as a citizen in a democracy, he needs to be a partner in the project to keep his neighborhood safe. He says, "I want to live in this community for a long time. I want to walk down the street any time of day and not be harassed by youth or police. That's why I'm doing this work."

Like Adrian, many Bostonians believe that neighborhood policing is helping to prevent violence. And like Adrian, they are studying the history of their city and the legacy of their streets. They are working hard so that Boston will continue to receive high honors for cutting crime.



	Keep the Peace: Learn the Past
	The Road Ahead Neighborhood policing done right takes place on a two-way street. In Boston, there are many programs working to facilitate more positive relationships between youth and police. The statistics indicate that these programs may be working. Violent crime in Boston's public schools was down over 20 percent in the 1995-96 school year compared to the previous year. Two Boston-based programs working to cut juvenile crime and enlist youth in improving overall community safety are Youth and Police in Partnership (YPP) and Raising Issues for Safer Education (RISE). While Will Morales draws from his legacy of life in the streets to run YPP, Facing History applies more than 20 years of experience in creating caring school cultures to its work with RISE. "I grew up having nothing," says Morales. "I think about what kinds of programs, institutions and organizations that I, as a young man, would have wanted to be involved in. I began to realize that I need to create or support programs that would have helped me when I was growing up." YPP is certainly a program that might have improved the relationship between the police and Morales during his gang years. Today, Morales trains teenagers like Rafael, age 17, to facilitate roundtable conversations between youth and officers. "When I first started YPP, I had a totally different mentality than I have now," says Rafael, whose father is in jail. "My parents used to tell me that the police are bad. That they want to snatch you up and take you to jail. Once you are in this program, you can teach other people what you learn, so that everyone doesn't feel hatred toward the police." In addition to participating in roundtable discussions, Rafael and other members of the Jamaica Plain YPP work in partnership with police to organize the neighborhood crime watch and to conduct a clothing drive for the poor. In the nearby Dorchester neighborhood, Facing History staff are working with students, teachers, principals, school police and city police to develop a critical force of peace keepers at Dorchester High School. The hope is that the peace keepers will be bonded by trustña trust which evolves out of an honest analysis of past dynamics between young people and authority figures, including police. Through Facing History's RISE seminars, adults and teenagers delve into their personal histories to discuss issues such as questioning authority, maintaining self-respect, and suffering dehumanization. Edward, age 17, is a student at Dorchester High School. He describes the night he was searched by the police for no reason. Edward says that he walked to the train station at the end of his street to pick up his cousin, when out of nowhere, two police officers approached and began to frisk him. "They were searching me rough," says Edward. "They couldn't find nothing on me. They ask you fast, so you give them the answers fast. Then they say 'slow down.' Then they say 'Get out of here or I'll find a reason to lock you up.' I say, 'I live on this street. What am I supposed to do?'" He adds, "It gets to a point that you don't care no longer if they got a gun or a badge...When you get tired, it's like you get close to a certain limit." Adrian, age 18, validates Edward's experience. Adrian vividly remembers how he felt when he too was searched for no apparent reason. "This anger just rose up in me," he says. "I thought, 'Look at this guy. I'm an honor roll student. I grew up in a Christian family. This officer's talking to me like I'm some kind of wild dog." Since the introduction of neighborhood policing in Boston, Adrian says that he has developed more positive relationships with police. He also recognizes that as a citizen in a democracy, he needs to be a partner in the project to keep his neighborhood safe. He says, "I want to live in this community for a long time. I want to walk down the street any time of day and not be harassed by youth or police. That's why I'm doing this work." Like Adrian, many Bostonians believe that neighborhood policing is helping to prevent violence. And like Adrian, they are studying the history of their city and the legacy of their streets. They are working hard so that Boston will continue to receive high honors for cutting crime.