Alexus Majeno and Desiree Mendoza are two Master’s of Social Work students interning at the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD).
When we initially got placed here, we had little idea of the impactful work we would be doing, let alone the changes we would be a part of. Globally and historically, media outlets have highlighted police brutality around the country and the over-policing in minority communities. Consequently, youths' perceptions of law enforcement have gone from “hero” to an “era of mistrust” and we have seen this consistently through Santa Monica as well.
In Southern California, a study surveyed around 1,000 children, ages 7-14. At age 7, youth across all racial and ethnic backgrounds viewed law enforcement in a positive light. However, by age 9, Latino youth’s perceptions began to drop and African American youth’s perceptions began to drop even earlier at ages 7-8. Even more interesting, it was found that African American youth’s perceptions continue to drop and decline every year as they grow up.
In predominantly minority communities, like the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica, the youth is generally known to view officers as opposing forces that should not be trusted. Generally due to the history of negative interactions, the question now is how to shift that negative stigma and bridge the gap between law enforcement and our youth. In recent years, there have been more programs implemented in an attempt to do this. These programs focus on promoting meaningful engagement between the youth and law enforcement in a preventative manner to keep the youth out of the system negatively.
Our role as interns at the SMPD is to work closely with professional staff and officers in implementing evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies to support youth through a youth development program established in 2016. The program is called LEAD, which stands for leadership, engagement, action, and discovery. Its inception allowed for SMPD officers to engage with youth in the community by aiding in facilitating workshops, engaging in dialogues with youth, utilizing their leisure activities like coaching the boxing program to connect with youth, providing mentorship, and contributing to teaching curriculum aimed at assisting parents dealing with adolescent behavioral challenges.
LEAD has proven to reduce recidivism rates within the community and has also allowed for officers to form connections with youth who might otherwise come into contact with the law, which instantly creates a non-conflictive interaction between the youth and police. LEAD’s collaborative focus, allows for a multi-disciplinary approach to bridging the gap between youth, community, and law enforcement.
While social work is relatively new in the public safety field, we are paving the way for the future. As social work interns, we are able to engage and interact with not only youth but officers as well. We are able to see growth in the youth and see the relationship between law enforcement and young people begin to mend. It is an incredible thing to see so much growth and trust developing right before our eyes in just the short amount of time that we have been working and collaborating. The program continues to flourish and water its community and the people of it.
With the emergence of prevention and intervention programs like LEAD and the implementation of more preventative measures, social workers can help foster mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation between youth and law enforcement. Social workers can continue in bridging the gap by facilitating healthy dialogues, designing and implementing youth initiatives in collaboration with law enforcement, facilitating workshops and trainings for both youth and law enforcement, advocating for community-oriented policing, facilitating mentorship programs, and serving as mediators in the event of conflict.
As the field of social work in public safety continues to grow, new and upcoming social workers need to continue to push the envelope in approaching the complex dynamics between youth, communities, and law enforcement. This underscores the importance of ongoing training, research, and collaboration to develop innovative strategies to strengthen trust, understanding and positive relationships.
Submitted by Alexus Majeno & Desiree Mendoza
