Female cops teach girls the `CSI' ropes
Call it CSI camp for girls. A group of female police officers from across the city team up this week with young girls in the community to teach selfdefense, forensics, firearm analysis, how to process a crime scene and more as part of a new allgirls camp to engage and mentor young women.
“It is to show them that they can do whatever they want to do,” said officer Skye Canuto. “They probably don’t see that many women on the street.”
The new “Summer With the Women in Blue” camp runs this week for 30 middle school girls and is aimed at building trust between the youths and police. The officers want to serve as role models and mentors for the young girls.
“It is important to reach out to young ladies in the community,” agreed officer Cynthia Brewington, who helped organize the camp with Canuto. “A lot feel they are inferior to males. It is to show them that they can lead the way.”
Officers from Boston, along with others from Wellesley, Brookline, the Massachusetts State Police and Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department have all volunteered to work with the kids in the “CSI”style camp, developed in partnership with the Massachusetts Association of Women in Law Enforcement and Boston Centers for Youth and Families.
They hope to grow it next year by including female firefighters and EMTs.
“We’re trying to be those positive role models,” said Deputy Superintendent Nora Baston. “We use the power of our badge to create an opportunity for young girls. We grew up just like them. We went to the same Boston Public Schools. We are them. We are just the older version of them.”
The CSI camp is just one of many initiatives launched by Boston’s female officers over the years to get to know girls and their families. Other programs include the G3 Basketball Summer Summit, which wrapped up last week. Launched three years ago, the G3 brings female officers and young women together through the game of basketball to build teamwork and confidence.
The officers hope they are laying the seeds for change in the future.
Christina Guerrero, 15, of Dorchester said she was surprised how much she was learning from the camp and how much fun it was. And for the first time, she is considering a career in law enforcement.
“I thought it’d be boring,” Guerrero said. “After the first day, I thought maybe I’ll keep going ... This is a good opportunity for me.”