Fall 2000

In order to reduce crimes committed against children traveling to and from school, Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, the Detroit Police Department and Detroit Public Schools launched the Safe Streets program, a major effort of The Youth Connection, which serves as lead coordinating agency in partnership with NCCJ (National Conference on Community and Justice).

More than a dozen school children were raped or accosted last year, spurring a call to action. "We all care about the safety of our young people, and there's something that everyone can do to help," Mayor Archer said at the August 10 launch.

The Safe Streets Network supports The Youth Connection's strategy to increase after-school opportunities in the Detroit metropolitan area. "Even as we significantly expand after-school opportunities, kids are not going to participate if they or their parents are afraid for the kids' safety," said Youth Connection Executive Director Grenae Dudley. In addition to the actual physical crimes against children, the city is seeking to overcome a perception of fear that hinders attendance and learning at school.

The Safe Streets Network is a collaboration of public, private and non-profit organizations and individuals dedicated to "helping to make every street a safe street." The Safe Streets program enhances safety in three ways:

• Through the "City-Wide Watch," employees in the public and private sectors whose work requires that they drive in and through the city are recruited as keen-eyed observers - including cab companies, sanitation workers and others. The police department provides training for these volunteers, who will have a distinctive flag displayed on their vehicles to let kids know they are being watched over. Watchers report suspicious activity involving any threat to school age students, and are trained to be particularly mindful of things like unidentified vehicles circling an area and persons leaving their vehicles to approach children.
  
  
• Through the "Volunteer Patrol" effort, community groups (e.g., churches, businesses) and individuals partner with schools to patrol those routes by which students travel to and from school. Americorps volunteers recruit individuals and organizations in each precinct that then take the lead in organizing the patrol.
  
  
• "Safe Havens" are businesses and public buildings that register and receive a Safe Streets logo for their door or window. Students know they can enter those establishments if they feel threatened.
  
  
• Through "Safe Strategies for Students," students, parents and other members of the community are shown strategies to make travelling to and from school safer. The Community Policing Division of the Detroit Police Department designs the training. The student and parent guide includes such "do's and don'ts" as avoid abandoned buildings and don't wear clothes or shoes that restrict movement.

The goal of the Safe Streets Network is to reduce or eliminate rapes and assaults against children travelling to and from school and to reduce fear. For more information, contact The Youth Connection at 313-963-4990.