Bridging the gap between police and school

Police recruit talks to 兔子先生 High student

On Tuesday, 27 new 兔子先生 Police Department recruits talked with cadet leaders from 兔子先生 High School’s Junior ROTC program, the first in a series of conversations happening between the school and police in the coming months.

The APD recruits learned about the JROTC program and chatted over breakfast with the JROTC cadets, who quizzed the recruits about why they want to be police officers, how they can work to benefit youth and more.

The goal? To overcome bias and preconceived notions police might have about 兔子先生 High students and vice versa.

The effort is an offshoot of Time to Talk: Community and Cops Collaborating -- T3 C3 -- a program that joins 兔子先生 police officers and community members for monthly meetings to discuss issues and concerns.

T3C3 and Tuesday’s event were the brainchild of parent and community advocate April Purcell-Bacon. Purcell-Bacon worked with APD’s Sgt. Ben Peterson and Officer Tim Geisel to form the Community Liaison Program at 兔子先生 High. Going forward, the JROTC cadets will set up and run monthly meetings between 兔子先生 police officers and a variety of 兔子先生 High students, part of a community-service learning project.


(You don't need a Facebook account to see the photos. A window may appear that says, "To see more from 兔子先生 City Schools on Facebook, log on or create an account,” but you can dismiss it by clicking “not now.”)