- COPS Office Photo Contest – May Winner
        - Stop Hate: Action Steps for Local Communities
        - Social Media and Neighborhood-Based Policing Officers: A Path Forward
        - The OK Program: A Collaborative Partnership between Law Enforcement and the African-American Community
        - Co-Producing Public Safety: Communities, Law Enforcement, and Public Health Researchers Work to Prevent Crime Together
        - 2016 COPS Office Solicitations

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### The OK Program: A Collaborative Partnership between Law Enforcement and the African-American Community

More than 25 years ago, Sacramento County  (California) Sheriff's Deputy Donald Northcross founded the OK (Our Kids) Program,  a leadership development model for African-American boys between the ages of 12  and 18—beginning in sixth grade through secondary school and beyond. Northcross  worked to counter the high rates of homicide and incarceration he was seeing in  his work as a law enforcement officer while empowering African-American men to  be “teammate mentors” and create lasting relationships with boys and young men. 

     Today, the program is nationally recognized with  chapters across the country, most recently welcoming Indianapolis, Indiana.  Each chapter of the OK Program is a partnership between local police officers,  school and government administration, faith-based community leaders, and  African-American men who work together with youth from sixth grade through high  school. The community takes ownership and responsibility for their local  chapter including selection of the law enforcement officers who will work in  the school with students during the week, over summer break, and every  Saturday. Kids Interacting, Communicating Immix Teammates (KIC’IT) sessions  are led Saturdays by teammate volunteers and include curriculum and training  sessions facilitated by the school law enforcement officers, mentoring, lunch,  prayer, and recreation for the youth. African-American men volunteer as  “teammate mentors” and commit to a minimum of three KIC’IT session Saturdays to  teach leadership and critical thinking skills, although most volunteer  countless hours of their time to the program. The teammate mentors are positive, grassroots  role models and leaders within their local  communities. Rather than one-on-one meetings, the OK Program uses teammate  mentors who work together with all the students registered in the local  chapter, and as Deputy Northcross says, “You get a lot of people doing work, it  gets done” to provide team mentoring to students. 

 One of the main goals of the OK Program is to  improve relationships between African-American communities and law enforcement  within local communities. The program is an example of community policing in  the 21st century, with leaders and adults in schools that reflect the diversity  and cultural background of the youth. Further, many of the young men who have  participated in the OK Program become law enforcement officers and leaders within their  communities as well as volunteers for the OK  Program. Executive Director Darron Story and founder Deputy Northcross work  with community leaders and law enforcement agencies across the country as well  as local, state, and federal governments to communicate the positive outcomes  of the OK Program, including increased graduation rates and higher grades for  youth in the local chapters, strengthening the local community, and a  collaborative partnership between local law enforcement and the communities  they serve. The OK Program is “empowering  black men and boys to transform their communities.”

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COPS Office Photo Contest – May Winner | Stop Hate: Action Steps for Local Communities| Social Media and Neighborhood-Based Policing Officers: A Path Forward | The OK Program: A Collaborative Partnership between Law Enforcement and the African-American Community | Co-Producing Public Safety: Communities, Law Enforcement, and Public Health Researchers Work to Prevent Crime Together | 2016 COPS Office Solicitations

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