Cops learning how to relate with kids
Program brings S.F. officers, youth together for role playing
Seven teens loitered in a San Francisco park and, before long, two police officers shuffled over and started grilling them.
“Get over here,” a female officer yelled. “Sit your ass down.”
Five of the kids stared at the officer with wide eyes and promptly planted themselves on the ground. Two others crossed their arms and ignored the officer’s commands.
Suddenly, the officer burst out laughing and hugged the flus-
tered kids. “Sorry,” she said, “sorry!”
This was the first role playing exercise of the day. Instead of standing in an imaginary park, the teens and police were in a conference room at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center. The officers had been instructed to aggressively question the teens, who were told to then tell the officers how it made them feel. The seminar was part of a four-day training called Policing the Teen Brain, which is designed to help about 25 city police officers improve relationships with children and teens and equip cops with tools to de-escalate situations and avoid the use of force.
“Through this training, we hope to offer officers new skills for interacting with youth, give them a better understanding of why youth behave the way they do, and strengthen officers’ relationships with young people in San Francisco,” Police Chief Bill Scott said.
After the role playing exercise, Lisa Thurau, CEO of Strategies for Youth, a national organization that works on improving officer and youth interactions, asked the teens how they felt about the officers’ behavior.
“They were rude,” a teen girl said. “They didn’t give us a chance to say what we were doing.”
“Why is it important to have your voice heard?” Thurau asked.
“Because we have rights,” a boy chimed in.
Officers observing the exercise nodded their heads in agreement.
Officer Grace Gatpandan, a San Francisco police spokeswoman, said every officer in the room works with youth on a daily basis, which is why the training is valuable.
Officers also met with representatives from different community organizations Thursday, including the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, the Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco LGBT Center. The meet-and-greet gave officers an opportunity to learn about resources, such as housing and job training for youths.
“We want to impact the way youth are entering the system,” said Frank Martinez, a program coordinator for Bayview Hunters Point Mobilization for Adolescent Growth In Our Communities, a nonprofit organization in Bayview-Hunters Point. “If you need to do community engagement in your neighborhood, give us a call.”
Additionally, a psychologist met with officers and explained mental health issues prevalent among teens and how police interactions can be traumatizing. The psychologist offered different techniques on how to talk to young people, which Officer Deandre Dudley found to be invaluable.
“It takes a little bit of social work to deal with kids,” said Dudley, who works as a rotating school resource officer at the 27 schools in the Bayview district. “It’s not cookie cutter. You have to exercise restorative justice. You have to exercise a little more patience, diplomacy.”
The day ended with one final exercise, only this time roles were reversed. Officers acted as teens and teens became the officers — with one rule: the teens had to de-escalate the situation without touching the officers.
The youngsters hesitantly put on their police hats and approached the four sitting adults with the intent of getting them to leave an imaginary park.
Suddenly, one of the adults yelled, “Don’t shoot!”
Several others shoved their cell phones into the teens’ faces and said, “I’m filming this.”
The two youths eventually resigned, bewildered by the interaction.
Thurau asked the teens, “How does that feel?”
The room erupted in laughter.
“Uh, it was hard,” a teenage boy said.
“Does this make you think more empathetically toward the demands of being an officer?” Thurau said.
The boy didn’t mince words. “Yeah,” he said.