Don’t Foreclose On Futures

In 1966, I was a rookie officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, working in the 77th Division.

One afternoon, a young African-American came in and started talking to me. He was coming from school and going to a Scout or Explorers meeting in the roll-call room.

He was a typical scrawny kid, probably 10 years old, and full of wonder about police work. He asked all kinds of questions and challenged me to arm-wrestle. I arm-wrestled him as I finished some reports, and he soon left for his meeting.

That scene repeated itself every day for about five weeks. He was a friendly pest, and I tolerated him. The meeting he was attending was a new program designed to provide officers and local kids with some interaction.

The 77th Division was a high-crime area, and confrontations with police, particularly those involving accusations of racial prejudice, were not uncommon.

Gangs were not prevalent in that area, but the Black Panthers and Black Muslims had ongoing negative contacts with the police. Today’s gangs were only beginning to take hold. (Eventually, they became notoriously violent and are known today as the Bloods and Crips.)

About 15 years later, while on a special assignment in downtown Los Angeles, I was walking into Parker Center, headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department. As I passed the security post, a deep voice said, “Hey, officer, do you want to arm-wrestle?”

I looked up and saw a huge African-American police officer. I saw the smile and bright eyes and recognized the kid from 15 years earlier. He said he had stayed with the program, which became the Explorer program. During that time, he had decided to become a police officer.

That was the last I saw of him, but I always remember the incident. What would have become of his life in the ghetto without the Police Department program?

For children today, growing up is a complex journey. I applaud programs that are able to help me and other parents instill values in our children. Whether community programs make a difference in our children’s lives may not be apparent for years. My experience says that youth programs work. That kid survived an era of emerging gangs because there was a program there for him.

Local DARE programs have been declared nonessential and are being axed from local budgets. That young African-American would disagree with such actions. I know I do!

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