09/01/14
The Los Angeles County Sheriff Department's Gang Diversion Team hosted members of the Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State University, and the Atlanta Police Foundation in Carson. Among these visitors were Major Keith Meadows of APD, Major Byron K. Martin of APD, Dr. Brian Williams of GSU, and Jenna Hyland of APF. Their visit was the result of a need for an intervention program in the school system of Atlanta. Major Meadows and Major Martin of the School Detective Section and the Community Oriented Policing Section observed that at risk youths had no medium that offered both positive reinforcement and a more serious punishment than a slap on the wrist. Dr. Brian Williams came on board as an academic resource for the team. Jenna Hyland is the programs manager at the Atlanta Police Foundation and was brought on to serve as a link between the Foundation and law enforcement. Jenna Hyland found the Gang Diversion Team through the list of honorees of the IACP Shanahan Award and contacted Deputy Noya to facilitate a visit in order to observe the intervention methods of our program.
While in Carson, the team got an extensive look at the Gang Diversion Team and its operation within the station and the city. In order to establish an intervention program such as the GDT in Atlanta, the team observed the GDT in practice such as a community resource meeting where various members of the community came together to discuss at risk youth and options for intervention for individual teens. Members of the community include Century Station, schools around Carson, drug counseling organizations, and the Probation Department. In the office, the Atlanta team observed the GDT's custom made case management system, Casejacket, and how to input a client into our system. The group also went on an exhilarating tour of the Pacific Coast on the Sheriff Patrol Boat through Marina Del Rey Station. To finish up the visit, a meeting was arranged between the GDT, the Atlanta team, Criminology Professor Maxson and her undergraduate research student Barbara Spyrou at the University of California, Irvine campus. The GDT program works closely with UCI's School of Social Ecology through its field study program. The GDT offers interns an opportunity to see firsthand the relationship between law enforcement and community members trying to improve the lives of at risk teenagers. Research conducted on our program benefits us immensely, allowing us to see where we can improve and spread knowledge about the positive impacts of our program. The relationship between the GDT and UCI is one of utmost importance, which benefits both our program and the school through field study interns.
It is our hope that the GDT will work extensively with this team in the future to implement for intervention programs throughout communities across the nation so that at risk youths can be diverted to a more positive and successful future.
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