. good morning. and welcome to mosaic. i'm ron swisher. it's a privilege to host on behalf of my cohost, e liz beth. many of you know the musical hamilton has taken the world and the country by storm for a number of years now. miranda just finished 26 programs there, shows in puerto rico, a soldout fund raiser for the hurricane relief there. many of the churches have contributed to the relief.

i had the privilege of seeing the hamilton on broadway and listened to the sound track many times. read some of the h every musical has to have a signature song. i think this one has many signature songs and many musicals after rking his song was my shot. he talks about basically not throwing away the shot, the opportunity for an education and the doors open and go through the doors. i'm hungry like the country and young and scrap py and need to rise. sometimes you can't rise without help and parents supporting you. teachers can't do it all. mentors can't do it all. but they help a great deal and you can't waste the shot.

it's a thrill to have with us today one of the police officers working in a program. robert smith. great to have you. . >> yes, sir. thank you for having me. >> tell us about your background. >> okay. so i was born in baltimore, maryland. i left baltimore in the early years d ppi. gr up in mississippi unt about hiool. and fast forward through a few states, i ultimately settled down in california. >> okay. >> and here i am. >> you've been a police officer how long? >> almost six years. >> what motivated you to become a police officer? . >> i was talking to a good friend of mine's mother and the opportunity came across the internet. she said, you would make a good police officer. so i decided to apply. and the rest is kind of history.

>> when they said you would make a good police officer, what did they see in your character that lended to that? . >> i mean, i just love helping people. i love community. i would like to say i'm very kind hearted. and i like to serve. so serving is a big part of policing. >> right. isn't it extremely stressful in. ful? >> in a sense. but you just day-to-day, just get through it. they have different thinor cer. they have aot of wellss you s thg now. they provide a lot of opportunities to destress. >> okay. when you talk about wellness, what does that entail? >> just self-care. self-care. balancing work and home. just making sure you're taking care of yourself. >> okay. now the okay program, tell us

about that. >> so the okay program, it's a leadership development model that focusings on african american males 12 to 18 years old. the goal in the program is to develop leadership and critical thinking skills and promote academic excellence and reduce the rates of homicide. >> it started in 1990? >> yes. started by the sacramento county sheriff's deputy donald norcro norcross. he says often when he was a ng he lked around for aion to the problm. >> that's great. he's given many young people a shot. we all need the help. >> we are appreciative of the

work you're doing. continue that. we'll hear more about that in the future segments and maybe the deputy chief might be here. . >> yes, sir. >> great to have you. please join us, robert smith and the okay program, our kids.

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welcome back to mosaic. we have been talking to robert smith after a program called okay program. our kids. when i first saw it, i might i meant oakland kids. but the program extends throughout the state, helping the young people and kids. tell us more about that and the fact that it's in other parts. >> currently. the o.k. program is in seven states. and chapters just like oakland, we call them chapters. a chapter is a middle school that we start in that feeds into a high school. so all the chapters are ran by african american police officers. >> wow. >> and they try to follow the young boys we recruit to the program from 6th grade to 1 12th grade. >> do you find them open or are

he intimidated by the police officers? how do you plan the experience? you know, what's been going on in the news and the media, young kids, especially african m officer smith and this is my program. but really when the young men, if you stay consistent and they trust you, they even sign up for the program. and it's a good thing. . >> have you seen any become a police officer yet themselves? . >> i have a few that want to be police officers. they ask questions about it and are interested. but i've only been doing the program now for four years. none of my boys are old enough yet president. >> and you're in charge of the program? >> yes, sir. i run the oakland o.k. program. >> that is your mainly

responsibility as a police officer now? >> correct. i'm off of patrol and i work in the program full time. just dealing with the young ones and running the program. >> that is important. it's amazing you can do it. i think of a police officer doing a lot of paperwork, out o. uis is tremendous wor >> correct. e -- so if you thin you know, an officer on the street, it's all after the fact. this is more of a preventive measure. so you know, just trying to deal with some things on the front end. and that way the officers working the street do the work on the back end. . >> i have a passage coming up in scripture about what's most important and what does god want from it. the passage says god wants justice and love and mercy and kindness. god wants humility.

what would you say with the important qualities and characteristics for the youth you're mentoring? >> like i said, the leadership and critical thinking piece and knowing to handle situations and learning to deal with things. a lot of young men don't have fathers in their lives. a father is supposed to be there to help mentor and guide you and help you become a man. when that is missing, we're not trying to be their father. but we're trying to bring in a village to help and mentor in god and teach the young men in the program to handle certain situations. it's always said, you know, especially african american boys, if they have a legitimate threat on their life, they're less likely to call the police and more likely to put a gun in their pocket. and that could be because of history or, you know, whatever. but in the o.k. program, we build relationships

with these young men. when they have a threat or an issue, they can call the o.k. officer to handle the situation and they're comfortable doing that. >> and i want to ask about the leadership. introks instruction of the break about a leadership conference in march. tell us about that. >> we started in oakland. bl n black mentors. and it's a luncheon. last year was the first annual luncheon. about 400 men showed up. >> and i think you showed pictures of it. >> yes, sir. this year, march 23rd, we're doing the same thing. the second annual luncheon. we'll make a call on black men again in the community to come out and help basically mentor black boys. okay. . >> where will it be? .

>> frick middle school in oakland. more details will come out february 1st. we'll go live with the advertising and promotion. >> and what do you do in the conference? >> at the beginning of the conference, we have a basically a career day. we have the men come out in different career fields and teach the boys and have them learn about different keer fields they might be interested in. the second part of the conference is a presentation about the program. you know, our founder will be there and speak about the program. and really, it's just a -- we come together and eat lunch and fellowship with the boys and the men have an opportunity to talk to the boys. we give away a few awards. and we invite the men for a training to become a part of o.k. and become a teammate, mentor. >> that's excellent. i read about norcross, the founder.

he's highly motivated and really committed. and has quite a background of support of different organizations, support of different politicians have come out from republicans and democrats and recognized his skills and ability. it goes beyond political partisan ship. he's involved and committed to the kids. . >> very passionate. >> and we'll be coming back and talking more. thank you very much. >> yes, sir. >> please join us with robert smith. [ cell phone rings ]

>> yeah, i'm watching it too. i see them every day. >> the curtains, they're always drawn in this place. >> i know. >> that guy, it seems like he's in charge of them. i don't know, i don't feel very good about this. >> we have to report this. >> yes, absolutely. man: it's a sausage first tparty in here. so... woman: it's fine, i'm very familiar. man: cause you're a sexy girl, sam. last thing, totally last thing, is that the music when momo kicks it into high gear, is going to get a little bit loud in here, so your customers are going to have a hard time hearing you, so you may want to... (inaudible whispering) woman: what?

. welcome back to mosaic. i hope you've been with us. during the break, speaking to robert, he mentioned a number of persons on the board. in fact the chairman of the board is bishop bob jackson. tell us about the involvement of the church and involvement of the community and the

schools and how that works. >> yeah. basiput gether, this a partners police department, the school district of the city, and the community which is a church that the o.k. program looks for, a pastor that's, you know, active in the community. and they make the pastor of chairman of the board. that is for oakland is bishop bob jackson. he funds the program and raises the money for the program so these boys can eat every weekend on the saturday mentoring session with them. we incentivize them for baifr and grades and different things we have put in place this in the program. bishop jackson is responsible for that in oakland. >> could you have done that without him? the lice department big

the school district is a big piece of that because they supply the kids. you have to have somebody to maintain the program and make sure it continues to go forward. funding is a big part of it. >> is the funding strictly through the church? . >> bishop jackson raises money through the church, through the community, different aspects. put on a ski mask to get the money for the youngsters if he has to. everything comes through him. whether it's through donations, letters, different people. >> i see. when i was here in oakland, i knew of bishop jackson. when heard his name, i was glad to know he's involved. i know he takes it to heart. dedicated and determined and one of the mentors you talked about. that's excellent.

we talk about skills. again, what are some of the leadership skills you think you teach them, the kids? >> so on saturdays, we have a session that's called a kick it session. and we focus on anger management, money management, critical thinking skills, decision making, how to interact with the police, if you get pulled over, what to do. different things like that. ur saturday. >> anger management, financial --. >> financial management, critical thinking, decision making. how to inte interact with the police. >> that's important. you have to start young. very good. and we have one more segment. we don't know if the deputy chief will make it. he had an emergency come you. you handled it i well. >> thank you. >> tell him to look at this.

you'll get a promotion. please join us in our last segment with robert smith and the o.k. program.

. if you've been with us, we have a great program like o.k. program and you have to have many volunteers.

i need to shout out to troy of the media that made the contact with the officers. and now we have joining us deputy chief armstrong. great to have you. >> good to be here. >> your man has done a great job here. >> he has. he's a very unique officer. s urund lad he could come. and experience with the program. >> i've been with the oakl police department for over 20 years. born and raised in oakland. >> okay. >> i grew up in west oakland and graduated. and so i've always had obviously a connection to the city that i work in. and growing up where i grew up program, a program like this o.k. program was one i wish was there when i was a kid. as a leader in the oakland police department, to have, you know, officers like officer smith who are willing to go into our communities and work

with young men of color, particularly african american young men, to give them positive role models, give them opportunities, both academically and socially and giving them a positive resource, somebody they can talk to as you navigate your experience in the city of oakland. >> with that long history, what motivated you to become a police officer? ity.y motivation is really i grew up seeing a lot of tragic things happen in my community. my family had a tragic and put a different face on law enforcement in the city of oakland. that was my passion, to be a different kind of police officer. to be part of a cultural change in a police department with a marred history. >> north cross is the founder, right? . >> yes. >> tell us about him and his motivation.

>> i call him dr. norcross. whether you listen to him speak, he understands what's needed, what's prescribed to help improve outcomes for african american boys. and so when you meet with him, you see his passion. you also understand from his own experience being a deputy in sacramento county that he understands from the law enforcement perspective what it is to work with young men. i think his grass roots coming, you know, out of a place of care, you know, him and the young men that he touched when he started the program, you can see the impact. the young men come back and support the program to this day. and so him being a positive role model to them and them coming back to show the success that they've had in their lives is showing us the important role that people like officer smith play.

at some point, we hope to see other young african american men come back and talk about him and how he changed their lives. >> i asked robert the skills, the leadership skills. what do you think the most important thing to teach the kids? >> i think the most important thing is how you have onrigh and how you treat people. how to be respectful to one another. one of the things i appreciate i really think that to me is the most powerful part of the program. a lot of young men don't have fathers in their for other african american men to volunteer time and be machine minute tors, that's vital to the community and shows them there are positive african american men doing things in the community and men that care about them and taking time out of their schedules to give back to them. that's powerful when you come

from sometimes a broken family and you don't have the role model at home. >> absolutely. and you were going to mention volunteers before the deputy chief came. do you want to mention other volunteers? he's thchaian o bo also we recruit, organize, and train african american men in the community so help come and help us with the boys. i'm only one man. when we have the boys come on saturdays, there's anywhere between 40 and 60 young men on saturday. the men come out and help us just be a positive role model. talk about life experiences with the boys. and give advice on different things. >> what success have you seen, deputy chief? >> well, i've seen students what were struggling and had very low g.p.a.s in school.

one young man had a 1.0 and was struggling and suffering academically. i've seen one of our former o.k. the young man and support the young man and the g.p.a. elevated to a 3.0. when you have somebody that cares enough to listen and support the young men, they can do great things. so i do understand that some people ask, why so much focus on african american men? because the reality is that african american men face the greatest risk. >> amen. >> if we want to have a realistic afgs about improving the outcomes of african american men, we have to focus on them. this allows us to provide them the focus and attention they need. bringing in role models and people that look like them and

saying you can do well and be successful and great. >> i've seen on the website, the seven cities, the grade point average, the people that stayed out of jail. you track it. >> yeah. we're tracking all of those things. the doctor is very specific about what it is he wants you to track and make sure we're getting the positive outcomes that he knows the program can achieve. i think to bishop jackson's credit, he continues to lead our oakland program and he does a good job of supporting the program financially and motivating other people to be a part of it. >> i'm glad you came today. thank you. keep up the great work. you've been with us here on mosaic and these police officers and all the great work they are doing. i began with hamilton. let me end with hamilton.

who lives and dies and tells your story. we have to tell our own story. and god also tells our story. you count. you are somebody. god loves you. god bless you. thank you for being with us.

. live from the cbs bay area studios, this is kpix5 news. san francisco officers in the hot seat over a police shooting last year. we'll have details on a new lawsuit coming up. plus the measlesout break is hitting a bay area county hard. and a group of mothers putting on hard hats to help a family in need just in time for mother's day. good morning. >> happy mother's day. good morning. let's start today off with a look at the weather. another day, another gray. and a live view. here's the beach today. here's the thing about the beach.