COPCAB 2017-06-08 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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4.6.6 Action Item: "Law enforcement agencies should work with schools to create a continuum of developmentally appropriate and proportional consequences for addressing ongoing and escalating student misbehavior after all appropriate interventions have been attempted." 4.6.7 Action Item: "Law enforcement agencies should work with communities to play a role in programs and procedures to reintegrate juveniles back into their communities as they leave the juvenile justice system. Although this recommendation—and therefore its action items— specifically focuses on juveniles, this task force believes that law enforcement agencies should also work with communities to play a role in re-entry programs for adults leaving prisons and jails." 4.6.8 Action Item: "Law enforcement agencies and schools should establish memoranda of agreement for the placement of School Resource Officers that limit police involvement in student discipline. Such agreements could include provisions for special training for School Resource Officers to help them better understand and deal with issues involving youth." (pg. 47- 48) "Youth face unique challenges when encountering the criminal justice system. Law enforcement contacts for apparent infractions create trauma and fear in children and disillusionment in youth, but proactive and positive youth interactions with police create the opportunity for coaching, mentoring, and diversion into constructive alternative activities. Moving testimony from a panel of young people allowed the task force members to hear how officers can lead youth out of the conditions that keep them in the juvenile justice system and into self- awareness and self-help. o Phoenix native Jose Gonzales, 21, first went to jail at age nine and had a chaotic childhood, but in turning his life towards a productive and healthy future, he vividly remembers one officer who made a difference: ■ 'Needless to say, I have had a fair amount of interaction with law enforcement in my youth. Some has been very positive. Like the time that a School Resource Officer got me involved in an after school club. Officer Bill D. helped me stop being a bad kid and assisted with after school activities. He sought me out to be a part of a club that included all sorts of youth—athletes, academics—and helped me gain confidence in reaching out to other social circles beyond my troubled community. The important idea I'd like to convey is that approach is everything.' " (pg. 49)