The Baltimore Police Department Youth Advisory Board, chaired by a University of Maryland alum and created in November in response to the Freddie Gray trials, is working on obtaining approval for a new project called “Millennials on the Ground.”
If the department accepts the proposal, young Baltimore residents age 25 and younger, both on the advisory board and otherwise, will act as liaisons between the police and the community to give the police feedback. Official meetings are the first Monday of every month. In getting approval, the Baltimore Police Department needs to figure out whether they can afford the proposal and if not, how to get the necessary funding, said Youth Advisory Board Chair Lamontre Randall, who graduated from this university in 2015.
“This initiative will finally get people money in their pockets for actually doing some good work that’s needed for the department,” Randall said.
Millennials on the Ground will also be pushing for meetings with the commissioner.
The new initiative aims to focus on seeing the similarities that the citizens of Baltimore have in common with police officers and trying to break down some barriers. For example, Randall said he wants to emphasize how everyone, police and civilians alike, value getting home safely every night.
“It’s gonna take a lot on the police department side and it will take a lot on the community side too, but we’re up to the challenge,” Randall said.
In addition to Millennials on the Ground, the Youth Advisory Board has been surveying citizens of Baltimore on their interactions with the police. Respondents are asked to provide their zip codes on these surveys, Randall said, so that the board can see which problems exist in which districts and whether there is a disparity in how the police treat residents of different districts. Randall said he was surprised by how “willing and open” those surveyed were to discuss their police encounters.
Last week, board member Shaleece Williams distributed surveys to 10- to 14-year-olds at a summer camp in Baltimore. The last question on every survey she hands out is “What can an officer do to make you feel more safe in your community?” Nineteen out of 25 surveys said “Stop killing people.”
The proposal comes at a pivotal moment for Baltimore policing. A Justice Department report, released Wednesday, found that Baltimore police officers engage in a “pattern” of excessive force and unconstitutional arrests.
“If we could, at the end of the day, have people really understanding what a police officer is and what their job is to be when they come into the community, that would … be great,” Williams said.
She said she hopes that the Youth Advisory Board will pique young people’s interest in law enforcement.
“I want us to bring law enforcement training opportunities to young people who attend trade schools in Baltimore City,” Williams said.
The board plans to strengthen the relationship between the police department and Baltimore’s youth, Vice Chair Deshawn Batson said.
“Our goal is just to … be that voice for the young people and work with Lamontre at every step we can to bridge that gap,” he said.
While improving relations between Baltimore police and civilians is among the board’s top priorities, they’re also striving for concrete results.
“Lamontre is very passionate about making a difference in Baltimore City and having measurable outcomes that the work that we do, we actually have something to show from it,” Williams said.
