student body learns that every 15 minutes in our country, someone is hurt by a drunk driver. these are the programs we have going on at the academy. i would like to pass this back. thank you. >> thank you. you heard earlier this evening a great deal of testimony regarding some of our programs and i would like to take this opportunity now to hear from some of those infamous youth program coordinators. first up is the police activities league executive director, ms. lorraine woodruff long. >> good evening. i am not lorraine. i am rick bruce, the president of the san francisco police activities league. i would like to give you a brief synopsis of what pal's are. it started 100 years ago.

officers were sent out to find playgrounds for the children living in new york city's tenements. what he decided to do because he could not find enough vacant lots is they cordoned off streets and they call that the new york city police to its program. each had a police of the sir assigned to ensure the children were safe. that grew into the police activities league and in 1959, a group of san francisco police officers got together, they went to the police credit union and took out a personal loan for $5,000 and started the san francisco p.a.l. which was the first west of the mississippi. we have sent 5000 kids through the program every year. you will see graduates and kids in every walk of life in san francisco. chief suhr was a p.a.l. kid.

there were two 49ers. the mission in 1959 was to keep kids off the streets and on the fields and that mission has not changed. i would like to introduce loraine woodruff long. >> thank you. this has been a wonderful experience for me. i am a parent of two teens, raising them in san francisco and going to san francisco schools. seeing all of you warms my heart. i am going to keep it brief. i want to expand on some of the things we have been doing over three years. i joined the organization three years ago. at that time the police commission had commissioned the police executive research forum to do a study of the police department and out of that, we took that document and use that to embrace the san francisco police department p.a.l. to make

sure we were supporting community policing. we have organized and have been pushing on in our organization. the first was community policing and making sure our organization is creating opportunities for police to come in contact with children. we as rick said, we have 5000 kids in our programs every year. we have year-round sports and leadership activities. 800 volunteers working with our organization every year. that includes civilians and police. importantly, what we do -- we have been looking at research and studies. one of the things we know that for an adult to grow up to a healthy adult, they need to have grown up with five adults who are positive role models for them. some people are fortunate to have two parents, grandparents and their coverage.

what we're doing is we are creating touch points for other adults to come in contact with kids and provide healthy adult role models. we do that -- we have several different ways we work with the police department. from very broad into very small. sports like our football program has been in the western addition of campbell field. this year, chief suhr and det. [unintelligible] all fall. one was an officer who left year earlier. he is working with those kids. those of the kinds of things we're working with the captains and -- across the sfpd. they're looking for ways to work with our programs and to provide personal contacts with kids, with adults, and with the community. one of the things that has been a very big focus in the last

three years, we have all law- enforcement cadet program. i have fired tear for anyone who is interested. using the perf report, we had a cadet program almost our entire 50 years. we saw that we needed to be growing our own. growing people from the community they're serving. we took it upon ourselves to grow and change that program. it was under the leadership of then-captioain suhr. graduates are placed in internships they're doing around in the stations. they're provided additional training and are working alongside police in the stations and at community events. we went from under 20 kids two years ago. we will have 80 youth from the

ages of 14-20 in the program. there will graduate and work in entered -- in internships. as of july. we are accepting applications and we are looking for 20 kids to do the summer cadet academy. they are doing that program at the police academy. trained by the same people who are training officers coming in and we will have a new class for that this summer as well. i want to emphasize there has been the last three years have been such a positive shift for p.a.l. and even more so with greg suhr. and having that be a priority. we are working on expanding those opportunities and connections with police and kids that have been making such a big impact. thank you very much. thanks for staying for such a long time for this service for

youth and the police. goodbye. president mazzucco: thank you. as a native born bay view resident, i was also a member of p.a.l. i would like to ask officer mike rivera to give a brief presentation. >> good evening. i am officer mike. i have run the wilderness program for eight years. we bring in low-income youth together with the police officers to share a challenging adventure. we brought down barriers and foster better relations between police, use, parents, and teachers. we are building relationships between police officers and use. we have the use developed leadership, communication skills, teamwork, building self

respect and understanding one's own ability -- one's own abilities. we can -- they can do more than they think they can. we help our youth experience life outside their apartment and gain appreciation for nature. once they have gone through this life is not the same. we engage our use through three day packing -- backpacking trips. the hike to angel island and various parks throughout the bay area. kayaking in richardson bay, and sailing in san francisco bay. most of these trips, the officers are dressed as i am come in uniform. the children see a uniform. by the end of the trip, they see a person. thank you for your time. president mazzucco: thank you very much. [applause] >> you got to see the letters of appreciation that come in after every one of these trips.

it is incredible. next, officer bob ford who will discuss the youth fishing program. >> good evening. i am the program coordinator for the san francisco fishing program. it was established in saw -- 1968 when a few off-duty beat officers wanted to provide children that they -- with a summer adventure. the program caught on. the officers set up the program and set up a 5 a1c 3 501 -- 5013c program. we take children from ages of 12-18 for free and is supported by volunteers. we talk to the children and instruct them on how to fish. we also instruct them on how to help out others. 60 on the boat, and team

building. every summer, we take out up to 1500 children from various youth organizations throughout the city. some of the groups that participate are gilman playground, eureka valley program, richmond playground, telegraph hill neighborhood, cameron house jcyc, and hunters point youth groups. the program teaches children with disabilities. those who have hearing and sight impaired how to fish. the program took on an educational component four years ago. the children can go to the aquarium and learn about the fish they have caught and observe them in a marine environment. a marine biologist answers the questions. perhaps the thing i am most proud of, the -- it is a featured youth program at the international association of chiefs of police conference in

chicago. thank you. president mazzucco: thank you. that program was started by herb lee, one of the first chinese- american police officers to encourage kids from chinatown to join the police department. i used to go fishing with them once a week. >> thank you. that is correct. next presenting will be officer rockwell, the scuffing -- discussing the sfpd operation dream. >> good evening. i am rafael rockwell. this past year is a year i coordinated operation dream. it was started by the housing task force police officers in 1993. they designed a program to help provide holiday spirit and cheer and guests and so forth to less fortunate children throughout

the san francisco housing authority properties. it has been a successful -- it has been successful throughout the years due to the dedication and commitment of san francisco police officers. you can ask generations of officers who committed their own personal time in doing field trips, different seasonal events, other programs where kids are impacted -- as a whole. their mentor, they are groomed, there is callous -- callas' kids throughout the communities who have received beneficial sat -- accolades. including backpack giveaways and toy drives and camping. ski trips and so on. we are trying to reinvest in operation dream and get it back to its luster. with the support of members of the san francisco police department and the commission,

we will be doing that. thank you. president mazzucco: thank you. i believe the next component of tonight's presentation is from the special victims unit, internet safety and cyber- bullying. as technology has increased, we have seen, unfortunately, incidents involving our youth. people to -- taking advantage of them through the internet. the officer presents to schools. they have been expanded to various pta groups. interacting regarding social networking through technology has opened topics of discussion that did not exist 10 to 15 years ago. a lot of it is about safety and encouraging communication between the use and their adults

or caretakers in discussing how to safely navigate the internet. it has become so dangerous. and with that, we will move on to our next topic. which i believe involves the chief. >> before i go into the program, was everyone else wondering what i was wondering when that little girl came up here? are you smarter than a fifth grader? i am not sure i am. she was pretty sure. anyway, we came up with a new program on top of all these other programs that i can tell you. ever since i was a regular officer, we as a group could not be prouder of all these programs. 1500 kids, thousands of kids, 1981, 1951 for p.a.l.

this one is starting now. i was watching one of the nba basketball games. there is a new commercial. i do not know if we have that video. lebron james sponsors a video where a kid is slipping in his bed in high school. all the sudden, his alarm goes off and hits the snooze alarm and goes back to sleep. he is not going to high school. he is in an sro hotel and he drops through that and he is a homeless guy in an alley. the message is every 26 seconds, that every 26 seconds, somebody does not graduate from high school. we decided, we are also -- always telling people they have to graduate from high school. in conversations with young people, they would say, colleges forever away. i do not know if i'm going to get out of high school. we decided we would shorten that

finish line and emphasize graduating from high school. if you compare the numbers up, these numbers are real. someone drops out of high school every 26 seconds. a high-school graduate, i want the u.s. mission to pay attention, lives nine years longer than a drop out. they make 50% more money than a drop out. we want you to live longer and be more successful. but the downside is that 94% of the homicide victims under the age of 25 are dropouts and the suspects are just about as high. 75% of the crime committed -- i am sorry. nearly 75% of the jail population are high-school dropouts and almost 80% of the

crime in this country is committed by high school dropouts. for people that say we are suggesting that kids with challenges cannot graduate from college, that is not true. i am one of them. i had both parents at home. i went to city college. but miami had my high school diploma when i became a police officer. we did fine. later, i had to go to college because i wanted to be chief of police. it is important to graduate from college. another important statistic is that every person that goes to college had to graduate from high school. you just have to graduate high school and you can do well but you can do better if you go to college. that is the message for that.

we are going to the schools. potoo whatever high school -- leave that there. we have already been to washington high school. the principal spoke today. balboa, carmichael middle school. we go to thurgood marshall next week. you would think we were a road show if. we are booked into may. if anybody is watching on television, if you want us to come out and talk, we will talk to anybody but prinicpals has been getting the move -- principals have been getting the most tardy students. we will get you through high school and then you get 50% more

money and you live nine years longer. it is a good story. one of the things that is a part of our program, we want to give kids that stay in a taste, we're looking to get jobs for young people. we started the clean team. from 1996, 900 kids have gotten jobs. there are minimum wage but they are jobs. it gives kids money. we did it again. we employed over 50 kids, working with the puc. thank you to all who works with these kids and teaches them work ethics. we do jobs programs. trying to make the kids understand that it is not just a program. if you will commit to yourself and get yourself to the finish

line, we will help you. if you want to in turn somewhere, come to the police department, fire department, anything that interests you in this city or a trade, offices, we will try and place you. we cannot guarantee you will get paid. we're trying to get money together so we can do it by stipend. if you want somebody that can take a chance on a young person, we will vouch for you. president mazzucco: thank you. our next speaker. >> good evening, commissioners. i am the school resource

officer a central police station and i am not a native san franciscan. [laughter] the central police advisory board recommended a program to deal with issues that some students in our district were having. they believe that some of the students are fearful of police and had a negative image of police and did not trust the police. i, along with a former assistant principal, and now deputy chief, who was commanding officer, we implemented a program to address the issues brought to our attention. our goal was to have 200 students participate in the program. as part of the program, i made a classroom presentation. i told the students about myself and my family, about jobs i worked in prior to becoming a

police officer and the assignments since becoming an officer. the week following the presentation, students with the signs were brought to the police station on a field trip. when they arrived at the station, and they were addressed by the then-captain who will come to them to the station. he talked to them about officers and the relationships we wanted to have with them. the students got to engage with the officers on duty and got to sit inside a police car, listen to radio communication, and ask questions about the station. i followed up with another presentation, i spoke about the internet and personal safety. i continued to visit the school and interact with the students until the end of the year. i informed principals in other

schools about the program. they wanted to participate. a lot of elementary schools participated. we ended up with 550 four students participating in the presentation -- 554 students participating in the presentation. at the end of the year, dennis chiu asked his students who have participated in the program a series of questions regarding their interaction with the police. one of the questions was, did the field trip help you understand the police better? of the 98 students who responded, 92 said yes. i have a summary of our program for each member of the commission.

i call a program steps -- safety, trust, education by police and schools. -- in schools. hopefully this will give you a better overall view of the program. there is also my contact information. if you've any questions or suggestions, feel free to contact me. thank you for giving me time to be part of this meeting. >> our next speaker you heard a great deal about today. i was almost say it goes without introduction but i would like to introduce you officer johnson.

>> good evening. this is tough because everybody talked about what i wanted to talk about. i will be brief. i am currently stationed at bay view. my assignment has been at the boys' and girls' club. my personal goal is to build relationships with the kids, build confidence in them, and help them achieve whatever it is they want to achieve now and in the future. i will give you a couple of examples of what i have done. there was a lady whose dream was to attend a certain high school. but it was not a reality for her for various reasons. but with a little motivation, we walked her through the application process, attended orientations with her and her

family, supported her as she took the test, she got in. she is doing pretty good. she is playing lacrosse on junior varsity. she is on a freshman. another story, the gentleman who was only a tent on a tuesday. he is a phenomenal athlete. that is the only time he would attend. i saw him on that -- and i said have you ever thought about going to college. what are your plans? the kind of laughed at me. -- he kind of laughed at me. he came and we talked about the reality of him attending college. he saw that it was a reality so we have been taking the necessary action to get him

prepared for college. he is doing a good in high school. he is a phenomenal athlete. making a few phone calls, i had a buddy of mine who used to be in the nfl come and talk to the kids. seeing how he performs, and they were impressed. we have a couple of football camps we will be attending this summer. a lot of schools, a few schools are starting to be interested. like the gentleman said, there is a softball tournaments, the healthy family day, we have 200 people attending. it was a major success. they were doing mazuma -- zumba, belly dancing, having a good

time. another thing i did was we made a commercial. i was in the commercial and it was basically talking about how bling is not good. i believe the dvd will be coming out soon. i can get it for you. i warn you i am no denzel. [laughter] the things we're doing in the future, i have been talking to various faith-based groups in the southeast sector of the city. we are trying to put together a basketball league right now. we do not know how possible is the this summer because of funding but if we're not able to do with this summer, we want to do it next summer. thank you.

[applause] >> of this time i would like to bring up from the special victims unit, jason fox to present juvenile debt -- justice data. >> commissioners, all of these presentations and all of these often not -- officers who have spoken talked about specialized training and the special ways we go out of our way to make sure the interaction is engaging. it gives a snapshot of some of the informal and formal ways we train our officers within the context of criminal enforcement and being a good member of the community. the culture shift that has occurred is very far reaching