Page 51 - August 2018

Puerto Rican Police Association reaches out to kids
n BY DAN CAMPANA
“Do you treat people differently because of their color?” “How do you feel about people being scared of you?”
“What do you do to deal with the ‘bad cop’ label?”
The blunt questions flowing from the mouths of teenagers
were aimed toward members of the Puerto Rican Police Asso- ciation, who met with youth last month for an open and honest discussion about the work they do.
The PRPA teamed up with the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance on July 11 to host a community event aimed at building trust be- tween teens and police.
“We are partners in this fight to eliminate barriers and create partnerships,” said PRPA President Waldemar Cruz. “We want to show these young men and women a different side to the po- lice.”
Inside the PRAA’s Latin Music Project Center, dozens of teens gathered with Chicagoland officers to break stereotypes. Each officer introduced himself or herself to the group, and then the floor was opened for questions:
“How do you combat police brutality?”
“Have you ever had a partner who was corrupt?”
“How many people have you shot?”
Their questions were raw, impactful and vast.
“We told the kids to be honest,” Cruz said. “A lot of these kids
are listening to the outside media, which makes everything about color.”
Cruz hopes that by taking the time to have an unfiltered dia- logue with the teens, he will change their opinions of local po- lice. He and his colleagues impressed upon the attendees the fact that they’re just mothers and fathers, grandparents and grandfathers, doing their job to help the community.
“We want to let them know who we really are,” he said.
After four hours of music, food and conversation, Cruz felt that he had done at least enough to open the eyes of many in attendance.
“It was a beautiful event, and we all enjoyed it,” he said. “We got nothing but positive feedback from the teens.”
Several kids expressed how much their opinions of the offi- cers had changed from start to finish and inquired about when they could all meet again. That meeting is one Cruz hopes to make a reality. He said he’s working on procuring grant funding to make the event larger and better. He wants to show other or-
ganizations how impactful even small conversations with the youth can be.
“These are young men and women who don’t know us and have never spoken to us,” Cruz said. “But I’ll be honest with you, all of them said ‘thank you’ and that they appreciated the fact that they got to learn something about us and our job.”
These simple words made Cruz feel not only appreciated but also hopeful that change can continue to be made and stereo- types about the police can be broken.
“The best thing about this is that we, as police officers, un- derstand that simple communication [can] build bridges and eliminate barriers affecting our community,” he said. “We’re just regular people.” d
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