The department has arranged to have the computer training sessions held in the library learning center located in their recently constructed residential community policing office. The training center and sessions give at-risk kids computer and Internet access and the chance to develop marketable skills. The Gang Crime Diversion Program continues to evolve. Recently, mothers of homicide victims have been incorporated into the diversionary training sessions. Freeman states that one the biggest obstacles law enforcement faces is changing youths' perception of police officers.
Young people are often skeptical about officers' motives.
But that, he says, is changing in Racine as the program gains popularity. Since starting community policing in 1992, officers once reluctant to respond to calls in particular communities without backup, now work there alone without the threat of violence. The level of respect is being restored, and partnerships between the police and the community are forming.