Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jun 2002
Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2002 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.sun-sentinel.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1326
Author: Jose Dante Parra Herrera

CHURCH EVENT LETS KIDS SEE SOFTER SIDE OF LAW

Hallandale beach - Most of his workday is spent chasing bad guys and 
finding drugs.

On Saturday, Karo spent his morning chewing on a tennis ball and being 
petted by children of all ages.

Not as intense as his daily police dog routine, but for the Rev. Joseph Lee 
of The Lord's House Pentecostal church, Karo's mission on Saturday was just 
as important: helping create a sense of trust between neighborhood children 
and law enforcement.

"One of our purposes is to encourage a closer relationship with agencies 
like police," Lee said.

The demonstration that the children got from officer Thomas Honan and his 
German shepherd Karo were part of Gospel Explosion, an annual program 
sponsored by the church in which children of all ages are exposed to 
positive messages to reinforce healthy attitudes.

In past years, the program has focused on topics from teaching kids how to 
interact and respect people of other religious backgrounds, to AIDS 
prevention, Lee said.

This year, Honan and Karo paid the church a visit and gave children a 
glimpse of their job.

As soon as Honan walked into the church's auditorium, the group of more 
than 30 children who had been playing a lively game of duck-duck-goose, 
quietly sat to listen to his presentation.

Honan explained how Karo had been born in the Netherlands, a country where 
dog breeding is treated as an art and not a business enterprise.

He told them about how usually the most dominant dog out of a litter is the 
one chosen for police work. And then he opened himself to questions.

At first a few kids shyly raised their hands. Then more. The questions 
ranged from whether Karo bites, to how could he tell between a bad guy and 
a good guy. When Honan offered to let the youngsters pet Karo, everybody 
enthusiastically lined up to get close to the 95-pound dog.

"He's big!" a little boy with baggy shorts marveled when he got up close to 
Karo.

Janice Reese, of Fort Lauderdale, who has been attending the church for the 
past two months, said that in her neighborhood near Sunrise Boulevard, most 
people view police officers with suspicion.

Reese, 13, said she has seen members of a narcotics unit, known in the 
neighborhood as "the raiders" for their black T-shirts, pounce out of vans 
and grab surprised suspects. That has been intimidating for her, Reese said.

"I've seen them beating people and stuff," she said. "I don't trust them."

Alberto Milian, a former Broward prosecutor and now an attorney for the 
Miami-Dade County Police Benevolent Association, said it is a tragedy that 
children have to be exposed to violence.

He said officers have to use "violence that is traumatic to observe. But we 
sometimes blame the officers instead of blaming the criminal or the 
societal forces that produces him," Milian said. "It's like blaming a 
firefighter for putting out the fire."

Milian and Reese agree that events like Saturday's help dissolve some of 
that mistrust.

Honan said police also see the benefits from their end. A trusting 
population equals better sources of information, which in turn translates 
into more effective detective work.

"A lot of people have the notion that our dogs are just trained to attack 
and bite people," Honan said, explaining how that attitude puts distance 
between them and the public. "The good thing about these presentations is 
that when we're in their neighborhoods, they recognize us and come talk to us."

Lee said if programs like this were more common in the community, the chasm 
between law enforcement and those they serve would probably be narrower.

"The progress is not as strong as I would like it to be. It's slow, but 
it's progress," Lee said.
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