Pubdate: Thu, 12 May 2005
Source: Melrose Free Press (MA)
Contact:  
http://www2.townonline.com/melrose/
Address: 72 Cherry Hill St., Beverly, MA 01915
Copyright: 2005 Community Newspaper Company
Author: Galen Moore
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

MENTORING COULD BE KEY IN DRUG BATTLE

Drug busts are frustrating in a small town like Melrose, police Lt. Paul 
Norton said.

"Drug investigations take a long time. You have to observe buys; you have 
to make buys," he said. "It's a long and tedious process that costs money, 
and the problem is there just hasn't been that money."

With federal and state grant money down to a trickle - between 1995 and 
1999 the city received over $1 million in federal money for community 
policing and now receives nothing, the police are trying to squeeze in 
programs aimed at young people, which they hope will stop drug deals before 
they happen.

Programs range from safety talks at the elementary schools to fledgling 
mentoring programs that pair teens with police - a more established 
mentoring program ran from 2000 to 2002 but was a victim of the budget ax.

"I wish it had continued because we did see a remarkable change in the 
kids," said retired Melrose Police detective Mike Bloom. He said once the 
program ended, in 2002, many of the participants went back to their old habits.

Renewed police efforts to restart mentoring also mesh with other programs 
like the Melrose Alliance Against Violence's mentoring program at the 
middle school still in development.

For now, Norton and Community Police-Liaison Officer Jim Applegate visit 
elementary schools, hoping to dispel young people's apprehension towards 
the police, early on.

"We'll talk about everything from bike safety to calling 9-11 and just our 
job in general, so they know they can come to us," Applegate said.

This work and other programs are minimally funded by a state community 
policing grant. Beyond that, police must sandwich their efforts between 
regular police business. Police are now working on a mentoring program in 
the Middle School, where individual police officers work with youth 
identified by school officials as being at risk.

While former police-administered mentoring programs handled12-15 teens at a 
time; the current fledgling program handles only four.

"If it gets more than that, we can't keep track of it," Norton said. With 
budget shortfalls, every sworn officer is on call almost all the time, he 
said. Including too many students would risk cutting short mentoring 
sessions for emergency calls. That, Norton said, would be worse than not 
having the program at all.

Patrolman Sean Tiernan said some teenagers are very receptive to police 
officers, even if they might resist authority symbols like badges and 
uniforms, at first.

"I think these kids are actually starving for leadership," Tiernan said. 
"They really are starving for a legitimate authority figure to just treat 
them like a human being and hold them accountable."

But in a recent group interview with a Free Press reporter, five Melrose 
High School students said teenagers often tune out when police officers try 
to talk with them about drug abuse. They said that is what has happened at 
two "drug summits" held at the high school each of the past two school years.

The five students, who agreed to be interviewed on condition of anonymity, 
said among the police officers, doctors, parents and former addicts, the 
parents of 2002 Melrose High School graduate Matthew Schille, who in 
December of 2002 died of a heroin overdose, were most effective.

"It makes you think, that could be my family up there," one senior said.

Nevertheless, the police are continuing their efforts to get through to 
middle school-age kids who may be at risk.

Tiernan said police officers have broken the ice by finding out what kids 
are interested in. For athletic kids, the department's weight room is a 
draw. Others responded well to patrolman Al Brown, who sometimes does 
mechanic work on the police cruisers.

"If we can find these kids and put them with the right officer, we can do a 
lot," Tiernan said. At the same time, he recognized the limitations of 
trying to do that while on-duty. "If you get a call it's like, hey, you're 
gone."

Meanwhile, the non-profit Melrose Alliance Against Violence is developing a 
citizen-based middle school mentoring program, using funds from a $150,000 
state grant.

"One of the major protective factors is having one consistent, caring 
adult," said MAAV director Rebecca Mooney.

Alliance members said middle school is the right time to intervene with 
children who may be close to making bad decisions.

"Everything starts happening in middle school," said alliance member Kathy 
Perrone in a recent round-table discussion.

MAAV Member Elizabeth Schon Vainer agreed, saying that's because of the 
independence teens have at that age. "They can meet behind Johnny's after 
school without their parents knowing," she said. In school, they have more 
unsupervised time - between classes and during blank periods, she said.

The MAAV mentoring program is based on a group-mentoring model developed 
under state grants in the Melrose Police Department between 2000 and 2002. 
That program is no longer in place, but MAAV members and police officers 
agree it was a success - at least temporarily.

The idea for the mentoring program grew out of the Civilian Police Academy, 
another now-defunct community policing program, which taught civilians the 
basics of emergency response and how police do their jobs.

In the mentoring program, 12-15 middle schoolers identified as being 
troubled met with volunteer mentors from the community. The group saw 
presentations from SWAT team members, handwriting analysts, and went on a 
field trip to the Billerica House of Corrections.

Bloom, who directed the program, said at first most of the kids did not 
want to participate. But after three to four weeks, "We saw a change in 
their personalities for the better," he said.

Mooney said the MAAV is planning its mentoring program carefully to ensure 
the program will continue.

"The kids did great when they were in it, but the minute it was over, they 
reverted back," Mooney said.

For kids who may lack dependable authority figures in their lives, the 
impact of such a program falling through can be hurtful, she said. "That's 
why you have to be so careful, because you don't want to hook this thing 
up, and then have that go bad."
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MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman