The Lincoln times., 1954-06-17
REPORT FROM WASHINGTON
BY REPRESENTATIVE c. R. JONAS
of the 10th North Carolina Congressional District
Lincoln Burke Mecklenburg Avery Mitchell Counties

proved that the neighborhood ap-
proach does work. He was dis
turbed by the increase in juven-
lie misbehavior. But he also had
an affection for boys and a desire
to "do something" to help build
better citizens for the communi-
ty. He developed the idea of or
ganizing a group of boys W h o
would be on the side of the law.
In April of last year, he set to
work. At first there was not much
interest shown by the communi-
ty Only % boys enrolled in the
first class. Today. after one year
of experience. the townspeople are
enthusiastic over the program.
When the group left Newton last
week to visit Washington, about
one-half of the town turned out
for a rousing send-off. The mon
ey to pay the travel bills was pro-
vided by parents, the boys them
selves, veterans groups. clubs,
business concerns, and just citi-
zens-all friends of the Patrol and
proud of what it was doing for the
community.
This experiment proves again
that American youth responds
strongly to leadership and that a
sense of responsibility and COM
munity dealing will build char
acter. The boys in the Patrol, who
might otherwise - just for lack
of something better to do-de-
stroy property or who, from emo
tional disturbances. might drift
into life of misbehavior or even
crime, now have something bet
ter to do in Newton.
MOTTO OF PATROL
The motto of the Junior Pa
troll is ITO Protect Life and
Property and to Make Us all
Better Citizens. They watch
out for the safety of others:
they learn basic motor vehicle
laws and traffic violations;
they report accidents and fires;
they gather evidence" Of law
violations, learn about police
radios, finger printing and pho
Biography. They are trained in
the ways of law abiding citizens
and are thereby made more
alert to their responsibilities as
members of society.
But-and this is equally if not
more important = they associate
| with friendly, patient law-enforc-
ing officers and learn to respect
the rules that are laid down for
the governing of the community.
Membership in the Patrol is linn
tied to boys of to IA years of age
who reside in Newton. Organiza-
ton is along the lines of a real
police department. They have a
Chief, an Inspector, Captain,
LieutenantS, First Sergeant, and
SergeantS.
Chief Hendrix hopes to develop
standing patrol of $50 boys.
This should be easy to accomplish.
There is no difficulty in obtaining
recruits because there is wait
| ing list and the Chief has had
calls from out in the County from
boys who want to join.
The Patrol meets every Satur-
day at 1:30 PM. The course lasts
10 weeks. at the end of which the
boys are graduated and are
awarded certificates. T h e n an
other class is enrolled and the
process is repeated.
The Junior Patrol costs tn e
town hardly anything. The main
eXpense-the main need - is not
money but time, personal inter-
est and devotion.
PROOF OF WORTH
The proof of the worth of
this experiment is in a cOmpari-
son of juvenile delinquency for
Newton. Before Junior Police
Patrol: case a month. Since
Junior Police Patrol: 2 cases in
year.