The Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD), the Boys and Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids (BGCGR), and the local clergy have formed a unique partnership. The GRPD’s Community Engagement Unit assigns an officer to each of the club’s three locations. By working in the club’s sites, these officers have developed ongoing relationships with the community’s children and their families.

A Special Duty: Teacher, Mentor, Coach and Cop

The photo of Officer Javo’n Sanders helping a boy with his homework shows Sanders in a typical day at BCGGR, where he says his job is to be a mentor as well as a police officer. In addition to helping with math problems, he plays basketball with the kids and answers questions about everything under the sun, while creating an atmosphere of safety and caring.

Sanders’s relationship with these kids and their parents is a close one, as is the department’s relationship with the BGCGR, one of the few–perhaps the only–club of its kind to have a police officer in each building every weekday from 3:00 to 8:00 p.m.

The clubs occupy a special place in the lives of Grand Rapids’ communities, supporting their young members in many ways. In 2020, for instance, when classrooms were closed because of the pandemic, BGCGR made laptops available to students so that they could attend school virtually in any of the BGCGR’s three buildings.

310 youngsters took advantage of this opportunity, and many also got help with schoolwork from the officer at their site. As a result, 84 percent of the participating students reported getting mostly A's and B's in school.

Drive for Success Helps Kids Get to Work and School

Another program BGCGR offers to young people is Drive for Success, which helps teens overcome financial obstacles to getting their driver’s licenses.

The brainchild of GRPD officer Derrick Learned, it was developed with help from Sanders and fellow officer Ray Erickson as well as the support of the GRPD and a local driving school.

Funded by donations and offered free of charge to BGCGR members, Drive for Success provides driving lessons and drivers’ education. It also helps teens pay the fees for their licenses, filling a critical need for those who wouldn’t otherwise have a way to get a job in an area with limited public transportation.

Another goal of the program is to reduce the number of teens who drive without a license and get misdemeanor convictions for driving offenses, which can lead them into the criminal justice system. Said Learned, “If we train kids to be better drivers, that makes the roads safer too.”

One more important benefit is that the program builds relationships between the driver’s education students and the officers who teach them.

The GRPD’s Community Engagement Unit also partners with BGCGR in two other programs for young people.

One is Pathways to Policing. A program led by club staff and GRPD officers, it includes mentoring, hands-on training, test preparation, and life skill development. The other program is Camp O’Malley, a summer sleepaway camp, which offers a wide range of outdoor activities led by BGCGR and GRPD volunteers.

Clergy Goes on Patrol with GRPD

The GRPD’s outreach extends beyond BGCGR to the community at large as well. One such effort, called Pastors, Picnics, and Patrol (PPP), is a collaboration with local clergy.

Initiated by Officer Sanders in 2020, it brings faith leaders, members of their congregations, and police together for cookouts and other meetings to discuss local problems and possible solutions. PPP also held a Unity Walk in October 2021 to send the message that all members of the community must work together for peace and safety.

Said Sanders, “Pastors and other clergy have insights and knowledge about people we don’t. We can learn a lot from them, and they can communicate with people in ways we can’t.”

An outgrowth of PPP is Clergy on Patrol. Started by GRPD Captain Terry Dixon, it is a department-wide program in which rabbis, pastors and other faith leaders accompany patrol officers during calls for service.

Police and clergy also attend neighborhood events together, and officers visit their houses of worship, thereby building relationships with members of different faith communities.

Said Pastor Willie Gholston of the First Community A.M.E. Church of Grand Rapids, "We believe that by working together the spiritual and the secular worlds can build a collaborative effort to cause harmony and peace that we haven't witnessed in a while."

CLEAR Reduces Recidivism and Renews Lives

GRPD’s Community Engagement Unit also works with former prisoners to improve the safety and quality of life in the surrounding area. This program is called CLEAR, which stands for Coalition, Leadership, Education, Advice, and Rehabilitation.

In this collaborative effort, initiated by Captain Dixon and Lieutenant Ralph Mason in 2010, GRPD officers work with local social service agencies and municipal resources to guide and support individuals returning to society after prison.

Developed to break the cycle of recidivism, CLEAR meetings are led by both former prisoners and GRPD officers, who all serve as mentors and offer help with critical needs such as finding a place to live and a job, along with guidance on substance abuse issues, maintaining healthy relationships, and other concerns.

As of 2020, the Michigan Department of Corrections Recidivism rate dropped to 26.7 percent, the lowest in state history and one of the best in the nation. For former inmates who attended four or more CLEAR meetings, the recidivism rate dropped to 15%.

Partnering with the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT)

As part of its effort to support public safety, the GRPD also partners with the City of Grand Rapids as members of the city’s Homeless Outreach Teams (HOT).

The teams, each of which is composed of GRPD Officers, members of the Grand Rapids Fire Department, social workers, and addiction and recovery specialists, canvass Grand Rapids commercial areas to help individuals who lack shelter and engage with businesses and residents to address their concerns.

Like all GRPD’s outreach activities, HOT’s efforts support the public safety of Grand Rapids, enhancing the quality of life for the city’s young people, families, property owners, and businesspeople, as well as its most vulnerable populations.

Looking back on his career, Sergeant Neil Gomez, the Sergeant in charge of GRPD’s Community Engagement Unit, said “You start off with the excitement of catching bad guys, then you make connections on your calls and realize that this is a big part of your job. What I love about my work is the connection to the community.”

No doubt, this is also what gets other members of the Grand Rapids Police Department out of bed every workday morning. As Officer Sanders said about the kids he helps in the Boys and Girls Club, “I want to make a difference in their lives.”

Images courtesy of the Grand Rapids (MI) Police Department.

Tweet