NCJ Number
214447
Journal
Criminal Justice Studies Volume: 1 Issue: 19 Dated: March 2006 Pages: 85-97
Date Published
March 2006
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article examines the potential of police mentoring to provide a positive role model to high-risk youth.
Abstract
Overall, the research and theoretical literature on police mentoring provides evidence that this form of intervention can be an effective and cost-efficient method of reducing criminal activity among juveniles. The author asserts that police mentoring programs are the next logical step for community policing strategies and can help break down the divide between the police and the community. In making this argument, the author presents research that has shown mentoring programs to be effective in mitigating numerous risk factors among youth, such as the absence of a positive adult role model. Indeed, even the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention has recognized mentoring as an effective intervention to prevent juvenile delinquency. Yet limited funding for mentoring programs has kept scores of children on growing waiting lists for available mentors. Police officers, particularly those in departments with strong community policing programs, are an untapped source of responsible, caring mentors. By casting police as mentors, departments can further their community policing goals and can build valuable legitimacy within their communities. In closing, the author suspects that police mentoring will be met with resistance from within police ranks because the overriding police culture will not happily accept the “social work” nature of working with troubled youth. References