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Page 8 May 17, 1973, PHOENIXCops, Kids Rap;Trust increasesIn NeighborhoodsBY CORRINE COLEMANThe anti-authoritarian move has seeped down these days to local police precincts, where members of the force were once by their very office set in a controlling position, particularly in relation to neighborhood youth. Now the Department%u2019s men are beginning to relate to the rap-discussion-encounter group trend and are loosening the enclosure of rank to sit down as people with their young constituents.A program recently started in these parts, The Student Police Exchange, brings members of the force, patrolmen rather than sergeants, to local high schools for monthly rap sessions.The 76th Precinct sessions, twoScoutsSet Clean-upThe Cub Scouts of Pack No. 1, Dens 1, 2, and 2, will have a broom and cleanup parade in connection with their %u201c Keep America Beautiful%u201d project on Friday, May 18.The scouts will assemble at their regular meeting place, the First Presbyterian Church on Henry St. at 3:30 p.m. From there they will proceed to Montague Street where they will assist the shopkeepers between Clinton and Hicks Streets in their efforts to keep their sidewalks clean.of which have already taken place at St. Stephen%u2019s Parochial School on Summitt St. (the one high school in the precinct which covers Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Boerum Hill and Gowanus) are under the aegis of Patrolman Gerry Walker, the station%u2019s training officer.A philosophy and religion student at St. Francis College, and on the force for 12 years, Walker looks only a bit older than St. Stephen%u2019s seniors. He has developed and participated in the two sessions aiong with 15 students (a different group each time) who were chosen for the encounters by the school principal. Radio Car Patrolmen Anthony Ciavarella and Luke Johnson participated in the most recent meeting.%u201cThe kids are cynical at first,\Walker says as he recalls a cool response relating to helping a copy in trouble. However as the raps continue; with the policemen and kids together in a circle, some measure of mutual trust emerges. The students begin to talk about neighborhood experiences like car parking problems, and then get to their pet peeve; being pushed off street corners.The cops try to give the kids a picture of how threatening they can look, hanging out en masse at the corner, Walker says, and then the kids do try to view the situation from this other perspective. %u201cOn the other hand, the cops get a sense of kids feelings,- how they want toPatrolmen Walker, Monteforte and Sgt. Miller, with St. Stephen%u2019s High School students following atwo-hour %u201c rap%u201d session. Students are: Phyllis Ricceardone, Adelina Ferrandino and Jean Rivera.do their own thing even if a structured community program is also available,%u201d he adds.Discussion of the drug situation, Walker points out, has thus far extended to the kids admitting that they smoke pot, which they assert is harmless and within the %u201cdoing our own thing%u201d concept. %u201cI%u2019m not 21 yet,%u201d one kid said, suggesting time enough for empathy withadults on that score.The students however, are listening even if not acknowledging the seriousness of the narcotics problem, Walker feels.Despite the expected reticence, Walker believes that the exchange program makes sense. The kids and police have enjoyed the encounters as far, he says, and the students, curious about the men%u2019sbackgrounds laugh at the cop adventure stories, and frequently question their occupational choice.During the May session at St. Stephen%u2019s, the last of this year%u2019s series, the kids will sum up their reactions to this beginning program, Walker says. And the Police, the program%u2019s initiators, are looking forward to hearing the student reactions.Pesce Hits Drug LawAssemblyman Michael L. Pesce told a meeting of the high school student body at Packer Collegiate Institute that the Rockefeller Drug Program is %u201c a sham %u201d and declared that %u201cit poses a majorthreat to the effective operation of the judicial and law enforcement systems in New York State.%u201d%u201c The immeasurable stresses which this absurd program will place on an already clogged and inefficient system, in addition to the shabby and inconsistent form of justice which it attempts to deem acceptable, will only serve to precipitate a fundamental breakdown of the system as a whole,%u201d Assemblyman Pesce continued.Assemblyman Pesce, in discussing the problem specifically as it affects the local area, said that %u201cthe Heights-Hill area is a uniquely independent community. But it is also a community with a drug problem, and it will not besolved with idle words and limited action but rather with the continued commitment of each and every one of us who resides here.%u201d %u201c It is quite obvious that we need some form of heroin maintenance in New York,%u201d he said %u201cbut I feeyt is essential that it be a communityoriented plan. Drug abuse is a neighborhood problem which the local inhabitants have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. At a time when people are assuming increasing responsibility for community problems, it is imperative that any such rehabilitative program be community-operated so that the residents will understand and relate to what trying to be accomplished.%u201disRed Devil Paintsreg. list Our PriceVinylLatex Semi-glossKitchen & Bath Enamel $Acrylic House PaintSash & Trim EnamelLatex Primer$4.98SID%u2019SHARDWAREAPAINTS345 Jay St.68 M y rtle Ave.$5.98$5.98$5.98$3.98No DripCeiling PaintAnn 1 OP--------- w , ' wTR 5-5176T R 5 -2 2 5 9N e w LifeFOR YOURR u g s C a r p e t s & U p h o l s t e r yCleaned by Clines In your home or in Our Modem PlantNEED NEW CARTETING?Vmt our lactofy showroom or hove our decorotor solumon coll with samples ot your home.LST. I193ULstor 7-0900784 UNION STREETPesce then went on to say that %u201cif we are ever to confront this problem from a realistic standpoint, we must mandate the construction of local drug dispensary and rehabilitative centers for addicts. In the Heights-Hill area, it will be essential for the schools to play a major role, not only in the dispensing of drugs to student addicts, but particularly in the area of providing realistic counseling programs in conjunction with the other sectors of the community.%u201dPERFECT MOTORS IN CSPE C IA L IZ IN G INVOLKSWAGEN Service. Parts a Repairs440A 13th StBROOKLYN, N. Y. 11215Open Tues - Sat8a.rn.-6p.rn,closed Sun-Mon(2 1 2 ) 7 6 8 5 5 8 3St. M ARTIN%u2019S VARIETY STORETRINIDAD CURRY JA M A IC A FRUIT SYRUPS WEST AFRICAN HOT PEPPER CANNED PAPAYA CANNED M ANG O S27 Third A ve (across from YWCA)......................................................................................mmlmtSm

