NCJ Number
166840
Date Published
1995
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This publication is intended for use by police, youth, and community leaders and presents practical guidelines and effective models for enhancing interactions between police and urban youth.
Abstract
The text emphasizes that a lack of positive contacts between police and urban youth, particularly minority youth, constant problems and friction exist that can increase into serious levels of distrust, fear, and even hostility on the part of both police and some urban youth. Recommended measures include reviewing police agency policies and procedures to ensure that they support the development of an ideal relationship between police and urban youth and recruiting minority employees and persons from the neighborhood served to reflect the communities being polices. Other recommended actions include recruiting candidates with college training to ensure a more professional police force and ensuring that candidates are psychologically suited to handle the job requirements. Additional recommendations for police focus on police training, assignments, adopting existing models for proactive police-youth contact. Recommendations for communities include identifying and recruiting youth leaders to take part in activities, establishing a task force on police-urban youth relations, sponsoring a symposium, publicizing the findings, marketing the program. The United States Justice Department's Community Relations Service (CRS) offers assistance to municipalities that wish to address this and other issues. Addresses and telephone numbers of CRS regional and field offices