Police Officer Participation and Selection

Participating police officers are selected by a police department supervisor based on each officer’s availability and expressed interest in the Community Outreach through Police in Schools Program. The officers are usually community officers who are local to the participating schools and who demonstrate an interest in working with children and families in the community. As group coleaders, they bring knowledge and expertise in the areas of law enforcement and safety to the sessions and can act as liaisons to the children’s neighborhood and community. Community police officers who participate have also completed the officer training component of the Child Development-Community Policing Program and are familiar with basic concepts of child development, violence, and trauma. Before they join the sessions, police officers are also instructed by clinical staff on the rudiments of group process and theory as well as the specific intervention intended by the Community Outreach through Police in Schools Program. In addition, the officers participate in weekly supervision meetings with a clinician who oversees the clinical aspects of the program.