U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

www.cops.usdoj.gov

Authors:

Dylan Presman, Robert Chapman, and Linda Rosen

(U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services) 

A Closer Look
These programs demonstrate how, by developing

meaningful partnerships between law

enforcement, schools, and the community,

youth can be set on positive paths and youth

crime and victimization can be curtailed. It is hoped

that these programs may serve as

examples of partnershipsthat law

enforcement agencies, schools, and

community organizations can form to address

issues of juvenile crime and victimization.
Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

1

Creative Partnerships: The Key To Supporting Our Youth

Over the last decade juvenile crime and victimization has increasingly

been in the spotlight, especially violence in our schools. It makes for

disturbing reading:

! Between July 1, 1998 and June 30, 1999, there were 47 

school-associated violent deaths in the United States.1

! In 1999 alone, students ages 12 through 18 were victims of

more than 2.5 million crimes at school, of which about 186,000

were serious violent crimes.2

! Government studies indicate that 10 percent of public schools

reported at least one serious violent crime to the police.3

These sobering facts require a vigorous response from our nation's law

enforcement professionals, educators, and communities alike. Research

suggests that youth who are not routinely involved in supervised

activities and who lack significant connections to positive influences

and role models are more likely to become perpetrators and/or victims

of crime. The incidence of drug abuse, violence, and destructive

behavior also increases without proper supervision. 

However, law enforcement alone cannot prevent school-based violence,

violence directed at youth, or factors that contribute to destructive

behavior by young people. Providing the safest possible environment

for learning and personal development is a shared responsibility and an

essential part of community policing.

Since 1994, the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

(COPS) has been a catalyst for innovative community policing

practices, facilitating local development of community-wide

partnerships that promote safe environments for youth. The following

are three examples of the innovative ways that the COPS Office has

worked with local agencies to develop partnership-based programs for

youth. These programs demonstrate how, by developing meaningful

partnerships between law enforcement, schools, and the community,

youth can be set on positive paths and youth crime and victimization

can be curtailed. It is hoped that these programs may serve as examples

of partnerships that law enforcement agencies, schools, and community

organizations can form to address issues of juvenile crime and

victimization.

1,2,3 Kaufman, Phillip et al. Indicators of School Crime and Safety. U.S. Department of

Education and U.S. Department of Justice. Washington, DC: October 2001.
2 COPS Innovations

Home Run: School-Probation Partnerships in San Bernardino County, CA.

The Home Run Program promotes a close working partnership

between the San Bernardino County Probation Department and

county schools. Originally funded by the COPS Office in 1998, the

program assigns individual probation officers to work directly with

specific schools or geographically based clusters of schools. The

primary aim of the program is for probation officers to work

proactively with students to identify and address behavioral

problems that may place them at-risk of entering the juvenile justice

system in the future. School-based probation officers seek to

intervene at an early stage, monitoring the student's attendance and

academic performance, and making home calls if needed.

The Home Run Program has grown rapidly since 1998. There are

now a total of 26 school-based probation officers on school

campuses within San Bernardino County. School-based probation

officers work in high schools, middle schools, and elementary

schools, depending on the district’s needs. The specific duties and

functions of these school-based probation officers differ. However,

there are certain duties that are common to all:

! Teaching life-skills classes to the student body, 

! Working with individual students to address specific truancy

and disciplinary issues,

! Serving on official school bodies dealing with truancy and

disciplinary issues,

! Conducting in-service training for school personnel,

! Developing innovative truancy reduction and behavior

modification programs,

! Acting as the liaison between the school and the juvenile justice

system, and 

! Conducting home visits to discuss issues with family members

and refer appropriate services.
Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

3

Because of the unique duties and authority vested

in members of the probation service, probation officers

are often well suited to working with both parents and

school personnel to head-off potential problems.

As a lack of commitment to school has been found to be a key predictor

of future delinquency, there is a strong focus on this issue.4 Many of the

probation officers serve on their school district School Attendance

Review Board (SARB) and/or School Attendance Review Teams

(SART), and assist in their district expulsion processes. The schoolbased probation officer works closely with school personnel, often

conducting in-service training for school security/police, teachers,

counselors, and administrators. Most of the probation officers

concentrate on working directly with individual students to address

behavioral and attendance issues and act as positive role models. The

probation officers also teach classes in subjects such as anger

management, conflict resolution, parenting skills, drug and alcohol

awareness, and truancy reduction. Several of the school-based probation

officers have developed incentive programs for the students to help

improve attendance. For example, one high school has developed an

incentive/reward program, in partnership with local businesses, which

provides rewards such as free lunches, movie tickets, and other teenoriented incentives to students who have significantly improved their

attendance over time.

4 Garry Eileen M. Truancy: First Steps to a Lifetime of Problems. U.S. Department of

Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Washington DC:

October 1996.

Comprehensive Responses to Youth at Risk: Interim Findings from the Safe Futures

Initiative. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency

Prevention. Washington, DC: November 2000.
4 COPS Innovations

The jurisdiction of the school-based probation officers does not end at

the school gate. Officers act as the liaison for the school within the

court system, with the assigned probation officer from the regional

probation office, and with local law enforcement agencies. In all of this

work, the focus of the school-based probation officer is to ensure the

minor's accountability, attendance in school, and increased academic

performance. 

Additionally, the school-based probation officers make home visits

when appropriate. To date, school-based probation officers have made

over 11,000 contacts with students. Many of these contacts have been

home calls to truant students, where the probation officer works with

the family to address specific problems and conducts follow-up to

ensure the student complies with the school's rules and attends classes.

During such home visits, the family can be referred to appropriate

services and to special programs developed by the probation officer for

that particular school campus. 

School-based probation officers have also collaborated with the district

attorney's office in conducting evening meetings on school campuses, in

order to discuss with parents of chronic truants the long-term outcomes

for the students if they stay out of school. At these meetings they

educate parents about their potential liability that could result from this

truancy. 

School officials have been impressed with the impact of the schoolprobation officers program. Mike Snellings, Director of Student

Services at Redlands Unified School District, commented that "since the

introduction of the school-probation officer program, attendance has

increased at each of the schools that has an officer assigned to it. This is

great for the kids and for their education. It is also great for the school

itself. State funding for schools is tied directly to how many children

attend every day. The attendance increases that we have seen because of

this program have directly led to an increase in our attendance-related

state funding of more than $500,000. The children win, the schools win,

and the community wins."

For more information on Home Run please contact the San Bernardino

County Probation Department at 909.387.5855.
Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

5

STOP the Violence: Empowering Youth To Address School Violence

The STOP the Violence program is designed to address the issue of

youth violence from a youth perspective. In partnership with the COPS

Office, the student leadership of the Family, Career and Community

Leaders of America (FCCLA) developed STOP the Violence–Students

Taking on Prevention, as a community-based training curriculum

designed to empower youth to find innovative ways to address school

violence. FCCLA is a national grassroots student organization focused

on the promotion of personal growth, leadership skills, and competency

development for youth. The group committed itself to the issue of youth

violence when a student member was critically injured in the Paducah,

Kentucky school shooting.

"Since the introduction of the school-probation officer program,

attendance has increased at each of the schools

that has an officer assigned to it. This is great for the

kids and for their education. It is also great for the school itself.

State funding for schools is tied directly to how many children

attend every day. The attendance increases that we

have seen because of this program have directly

led to an increase in our attendance-related state

funding of more than $500,000. The children win, the
6 COPS Innovations

While there are many violence prevention initiatives in existence, STOP

the Violence is unique in that it was conceived by youth, led by youth

and focused on youth. Young people bring STOP the Violence to life in

local schools by planning, implementing, and evaluating awareness

activities and action projects. Teams of local FCCLA members are

trained together with an adult advisor to conduct the STOP the Violence

program in their schools. Conducted by youth leaders (current and

former FCCLA members), the local team training provides participants

with the skills and resources necessary to prevent school violence.

Through STOP the Violence, students define problems, explore

solutions, and develop action plans for their local schools and

communities. Youth competency development is a key component of

this project as students tailor local projects to address specific concerns.

Just as youth violence issues vary from community to community, so

must prevention efforts vary, adapted to each specific situation by the

young people most affected by the problem.

Students develop and implement local action projects to reduce the

potential for violence in their school. Local STOP the Violence projects

are designed to change attitudes, teach skills, and connect young people

with resources that address violence prevention. STOP the Violence is a

comprehensive peer-to-peer outreach initiative that empowers young

people to recognize, report, and reduce the potential for youth violence

in their schools and communities. The program uses the principle of

peer education – teens teaching teens – to:

! Empower students with the skills and resources to make their

schools safer, 

! Reach their peers with violence prevention education,

! Recognize warning signs of potential youth violence,

! Encourage young people to report troubling behavior,

! Collaborate with school and community resources to address

youth violence promptly, and

! Develop and implement local action projects to reduce the

potential for violence in their school. 
Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

7

FCCLA members recognize the value of partnering with others to

achieve their goal. They reach out to involve other young people and to

tap the expertise of law enforcement agencies, school administrators and

counselors, other student organizations, health and social services

agencies, community organizations, media outlets, and local

government agencies. 

This year FCCLA offered local chapters an opportunity to showcase

their violence prevention efforts through a national award project.

Twenty-nine states competed for a cash award and the chance to present

their project to over 5,000 students and advisors from across the United

States at the FCCLA national conference in July 2001. Projects were

judged on the basis of problem evaluation, creativity, and the ability to

comprehensively impact student and community awareness through the

use of available media. Cameron High School students in West Virginia

took first place with their violence awareness campaign. 

Cameron High School students began their efforts in November 2000

by conducting a survey to target issues and encourage involvement in

the program, while at the same time beginning the process of

developing relationships between students. In December and January,

bulletin boards were designed, a violence prevention poster contest was

held, daily announcements of violence facts and "hug tips" were offered

FCCLA developed STOP the Violence as a community-based

training curriculum designed to empower youth to find

innovative ways to address school violence.
8 COPS Innovations

through the school public address system, and a school wide pledge and

signing wall was set up to encourage total student participation.

Students wrote and submitted articles to two local newspapers and the

school newspaper detailing upcoming projects and describing events

and successes. "Kindness spies" kept records of students caught

committing acts of kindness and submitted these names to the School

Resource Officer (SRO). At a school assembly, the SRO awarded prizes

to these students as he reported on their kind behaviors. The

culmination of the project was a Valentine's Day Forum officiated by a

local media personality. At the forum, community leaders, college

students, hospital personnel, counselors, psychologists, and other

community members discussed the root causes of school violence and

individual students' responsibility in addressing it. Topics included

animal abuse, suicide, sexual assault, and drug and alcohol abuse.

Assemblies included performances by the high school chorus, drama

students and the Teen Challenge Ministry Team. Students participated as

curriculum developers and trainers for younger students, as well as in

roles such as ushers, caterers, photographers, equipment technicians,

and decorators.

The STOP the Violence program presents an exciting opportunity for

partnership with agencies and SROs interested in addressing these

issues. State advisors offer a ready-to-go team of student trainers who

can travel throughout their regions to deliver violence prevention

training sessions. Working together, youth participate as full partners

with schools, law enforcement, and communities to create and

implement projects that empower young people to recognize, report and

reduce the potential for violence in what can only be described as winwin partnerships.

For more information please contact the Family, Career and Community

Leaders of America at 703.476.4900.
Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

9

Police Magnet Schools: Connecting Students and Police Officers in a School to

Work Environment in New York City, NY and Los Angeles, CA.

Police magnet schools involve youth in police agencies, develop bonds

between youth and police officers and encourage youth to view law

enforcement as a rewarding career path. The COPS Office is working

with community organizations in New York City and Los Angeles to

develop police magnet schools that build bonds of respect and

admiration between law enforcement and youth, giving young people

strong role models in the community. Additionally, it is expected that

these programs will expand the overall pool of prospective police

applicants, and in doing so increase the numbers of minorities and

women applying for law enforcement positions. Magnet schools allow

youth that have experienced trouble fitting into the traditional academic

environment to belong to a smaller educational community that

connects their academic studies directly with career aspirations and

goals, and develops strong relationships between students and

professional entities. These projects harness the promise that magnet

schools have shown in other career fields, for the benefit of law

enforcement and the community in general.

Police magnet schools involve youth in police agencies, develop

bonds between youth and police officers and

encourage youth to view law enforcement as a

rewarding career path.
10 COPS Innovations

East Brooklyn Congregations/East New York High School for Public

Safety and Law

In 1999, a magnet school for public safety and law was established in

largely Hispanic and African American neighborhoods of East

Brooklyn. The college-track high school program prepares 9-12 grade

students to meet the New Standards and Regents requirements, while

also exposing them to a wide array of public safety, security, and law

courses, developed in partnership with the John Jay College of Criminal

Justice. The curriculum emphasizes performance-based assessment,

study skills, and research. Graduating students are academically

prepared to continue their education, as well as to pursue careers in

public safety, law, forensics, and corrections.

This program was developed as a partnership between the COPS Office,

the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the East Brooklyn

Congregations – a not-for-profit umbrella organization of congregations

and associations working in East Brooklyn. This program also partnered

with a variety of local and national educational institutions including:

the John Jay College of Criminal Justice; the National Partnership for

Careers in Public Safety, Law and Security; the Teachers

College/Columbia College; Middle College Charter High School; the

Justice Resource Center (funded by the New York City Council); and

the national organization Educators for Social Responsibility.

Entrance requirements and enrollment standards are exacting and

require the full commitment of students. The curriculum includes all of

the required academic courses leading to a diploma, as identified by the

State of New York and the New York City Board of Education.

However, the regular academic courses are infused with concepts

related to public safety and law. To augment the classroom instructions,

teachers organize special activities involving law and public safety

locations, including field trips to courts, penal institutions, and law

offices; participation in the NYPD Citizens Committee (a 16-week

workshop); mock trials and "youth court"; internships; workshops

facilitated by NYPD personnel; and student trips to the FBI Training

Academy in Quantico, Virginia. 

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice supports the magnet school by

providing law-related curricula, guest speakers, and college entrance

preparatory classes. They are exploring the possibility for awarding

college credits for advanced classes.
Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

11

The successes of the academy are widely recognized. For example:

! In the first year of operation, 45 students who were previously

seen to be in danger of failing, have raised their grades to above

average; 

! Attendance has steadily improved to almost 79%, and 99% of

incoming 9th graders have been retained;

! Only one superintendent suspension took place during the first

year, which was far below the annual performance benchmark; 

! Academically, the benchmarks set for passing the Regents tests

were exceeded across all academic subjects; and

! Retention and attendance rates in the first two years have

exceeded that of the rest of the city.

Additionally, youth previously viewed as "at risk" now interact with law

enforcement officers on a daily basis and are developing personal

relationships with them. Research shows involvement of adult role

models with at-risk youth can reduce deliquency.5

It is expected that these programs will expand the

overall pool of prospective applicants, and in doing so

increase the numbers of minorities and women applying for law

enforcement positions.

5 Juvenile Mentoring Program, 1998 Report to Congress. U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Juvenile Justice and Deliquency Prevention. Washington, DC: December

1998.

Marans, Steven and Miriam Berkman. Child-Development-Community Policing:

Partnership in a Climate of Violence. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Washington, DC: March 1997.
12 COPS Innovations

A sub-component to the East Brooklyn Congregations magnet school

has been to develop an evening program targeted towards prospective

police recruits in the neighborhood. This police recruitment program

offers vocational counseling, tutoring for entrance exams, and interview

preparation for adults interested in a policing career with one of the

local law enforcement agencies. 

For more information on the New York City/East Brooklyn

Congregation’s Police Magnet School, please contact the East New

York High School at 718.498.4095.

Los Angeles Police Academy Magnet School Program

In 1996, a group that included the Los Angeles Police Department

(LAPD) and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) began

to put in place a series of Police Academy Magnet School Programs

within several schools in South Central and East Los Angeles. The

program created "schools within schools" that offer participating

students specialized academic, tutorial, counseling, and physical

education services designed to assist them in meeting the academic and

physical requirements of a police department. 

With funding from the COPS Office, this network of Police Academy

Magnet School Programs has since expanded to five high schools and a

middle school, with nearly 800 high school and 200 middle school

students participating. Although still relatively new, to date nearly 200

students have graduated from the program.

This innovative program responds to three inter-related issues:

recruitment, diversity, and youth crime and victimization. From 1995 to

1999, the number of people applying to join the Los Angeles Police

Department dropped 64 percent, while the number of officers leaving

more than doubled. As the importance of recruitment and retention

issues increased, so did the importance of increasing diversity within the

ranks. At the same time, the LAPD was vigorously pursuing innovative

ways to provide youth with the skills and resources to avoid

involvement in juvenile crime and victimization. These factors helped

highlight the importance of working with bright, committed high school

students potentially interested in a career in policing and providing

young people with opportunities for positive interaction with law

enforcement officers. 
Creative Partnerships 

Supporting Youth, Building Communities

13

What has made the program particularly successful is the close

collaborative relationship between the LAPD and LAUSD. Because of

the manner in which the programs are integrated into existing schools,

they receive ongoing funding from LAUSD and the State of California.

Additionally, officers from the LAPD work closely with students in the

program as physical education instructors and counselors. The close

contact with officers, including six-week summer internships with

school police, provides students with positive role models and mentors,

and establishes additional positive influences in their lives. The police

officers also manage after-school police clubs, giving students

opportunities to pursue activities they could not do during the school

day. Students wear Police Academy uniforms, which foster a sense of

cohesion and give them the feeling of being valued members of a peer

group. 

Civilian high school instructors receive additional training on topics

such as forensic sciences, police technology, and criminal justice

computer applications to infuse these subjects into the regular

curriculum and enhance the pre-college curricula with policing

examples. Each magnet school also has its own forensic science rooms,

police resource rooms, communications center, physical education

specialists, specialized tutors, and college and career counselors. 

“If I wasn't in the magnet program, I wouldn't be involved in my

community. It totally changed my perspective," said

Anthony Pena, an 18-year-old senior from North Hills.
14 COPS Innovations

Students have the opportunity to work in police stations during the

school year and over the summer break. This experience, as well as

their academic lessons in fingerprinting, report writing, and courtroom

procedures prepares them for a career in law enforcement. At

graduation, these students are still too young to join the force. To fill

this gap, the LAPD has re-instituted the cadet Student Worker Program,

employing magnet school graduates in police work between high school

graduation and the minimum age of entry into the police academy. 

Of the 46-graduating seniors from the original three schools, 28 planned

careers in law enforcement, and 20 of those signed up to be technical

reserve officers in the LAPD. Of the remaining students, two plan to

become firefighters, seven plan to enter the military, and others are

planning careers in social work, computer science, and journalism. The

Police Academy Magnet School Program recently celebrated its third

graduating class. 

The response from participants and the community has been extremely

positive. "If I wasn't in the magnet program, I wouldn't be involved in

my community. It totally changed my perspective," said Anthony Pena,

an 18-year-old senior from North Hills, who intends to join the LAPD

after four years of college. According to Los Angeles Councilwoman

Laura Chick, "now more than ever, we have an interested pool of very

young potential officers, and we don't want to lose these kids, for their

good and for our own good."

For more information, please contact the Los Angeles Police

Department at 310.246.0404 or check the LAPD website at

http://www.lapdonline.org.
Students have the opportunity to work in police

stations during the school year and over

the summer break. This experience, as well as

their academic lessons in fingerprinting, report

writing, and courtroom procedures,

prepares them for a career in law

enforcement.
FOR MORE INFORMATION

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

1100 Vermont Avenue, NW

Washington D.C. 20530

To obtain details on COPS programs, call the

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 1.800.421.6770

Visit the COPS internet address listed below.

updated September 11, 2002 e03021471

www.cops.usdoj.gov