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Toledo police officer Byron Daniels, a 21 year veteran of
the TPD, says he hopes to change the perception of police
among Toledo’s youth. “We’re trying to get our young people
to see the police officers in a different light,” he said.
“Nobody likes us.”
Daniels points to the recent racial tensions involving
police officers throughout the nation. “Look at what’s
happening with police all over the world,” he said. “(There
is) Trayvon Martin in Florida, Mr. Rice there in Cleveland,
(and) New York. (Young people) normally see us as someone to
arrest you.”
Daniels, said that he does not want to be known as the bad
guy. “I hate when parents see us in the store and they say
‘he’s going to get you.’ “(I think) no, it’s your job to get
him. I should be their friend,” he said.
The Brains and Body challenge program creates fun, safe
interaction with the police and also provides youth a
different perspective of officers.
Daniels said that TPD’s summer program is designed to
redirect mindsets about police focusing on two components.
“This program allows our young people to use their bodies,
and their brains,” he said.
“We’re trying to get our young people
to see police officers in a different light.
Nobody likes us.”
– Byron Daniels, TPD
According to Daniels, the fitness portion of the program
will include line dancing, weighted hula hooping,
basketball, and dodge ball. Many of these segments will be
taught by certified school teachers and Toledo police
officers who have the skills.
“A sergeant came over and taught some aerobic classes last
year.” And one of our officers came in. She was the
McDonald’s double Dutch champion,” he said.
Daniels said that the brain portion of the program, which
will also involve certified school teachers and instructors,
will help students build math skills, learn etiquette,
chess, and Spanish.
Daniels said that during the eight week program, camp
instructors will have opportunities to give advice to
students. That advice will include not leaving drinks
unattended, and informing young ladies of some tactics that
young men will try to use on them. “And we (also) give them
nutritional information and drug information,” Daniels said.
Daniels said instructors will also speak to campers about
how to respond to police officers. “We talk about what to do
when you’re stopped by the police,” Daniels said. “If it’s
evening or night, turn on the lights inside (the car) so
they can see your hands.” Program leaders plans to tell
students the importance of being respectful to the police.
“If you have done nothing wrong you should have nothing to
fear,” Daniels said.
Daniels said that he knows what it’s like to be a young
person in the community.
“It’s not like I always wanted to be a police officer, he
said. “I needed a job. I was 40 when I started. I’m 62 now.
I was born in the Brand Whitlock homes. And that’s my
message to the kids ‘hey I was born and raised in the Brand
Whitlock homes,’” he said.
“I went to Gunkel School. I went to Robinson. I graduated
from Jesup W. Scott. And never in my wildest dreams did I
imagine I’d be back patrolling the neighborhood.”
And after joining the police force Daniels said that he
continued to work in the area where he grew up.
“I worked in Brand Whitlock [substation] for 15, 16 years,
until they started tearing it down,” he said. “That’s always
my message. I had to keep my record clean, (and) a lot of my
friends are dead. My father wasn’t in my life. I am what I
am today because of my mother,” he said. “She taught me
certain things. That carried me over. So that’s part of my
message. I’m straight from the hood. No silver spoon in my
mouth.”
During Daniels’ two and a half years with the prevention
team, he has worked closely with Officer Floella Wormely. Wormely,
an advocate for youth without the “silver spoon,” has been a
Toledo police officer for 32 years, and has worked on the
prevention team since its inception in 1993.
Wormely said that the program in Toledo was modeled after a
similar one in Vallejo, California. “The police chief
brought this program here when he came,” she said. “I am
really only one of the original people left.”
“I can deal with anybody,
white, Chinese, black, it doesn’t matter,”
But they need to make sure they have the right person in
this position - somebody that really cares.” – Flo Wormely
TPD
Wormely said that one component of the program is to ensure
that youth who have a propensity for trouble are given
alternatives that will not have a lasting effect on their
future. “When students get in trouble in school “(we) can
arrest them but we try not to do that. We talk to them and
mentor them and really try to steer them in the right
direction,” she said. “We very seldom file charges. I mean
they’ve got to be a knucklehead for us to file charges on
them.”
Wormely, who says she choose law enforcement over social
work, believes that she now has “the best of both worlds.”
And her propensity to combine social work with policing is
what helped steer 20-year-old Marquise Green in the right
direction.
Green, who returned to the Ottawa Park police substation to
volunteer for one of the prevention team events, was able to
take advantage of a second chance through the prevention
program.
“I met Officer Wormely five years ago when I committed a
crime in my teenaged years,” Green said. He credits that
initial encounter with Wormely for helping him find the
right path. “Going through rough times and then coming to
know Officer Wormely, she helped me turn my life around and
to think better of myself,” Green said.
Green said that after his ordeal was over, he began to
participate in the Police Probation Program. He credits
Officer Wormely for taking the extra steps to help. “She (Wormely)
gave me real good advice to help me change my ways,” he
said.
Green, who said he would consider taking the police exam in
the future, says that he believes that his involvement with
the prevention team has changed the way he sees officers.
“I appreciate the police. They put their lives at risk every
day,” he said some people may think that police officers
don’t care and that’s not the case at all. (They) want
people to do well and stay out of trouble.”
But despite the personal success of Green and others like
him, Wormely said that she is still concerned about the
future of the program, and the prevention team’s ability to
continue to be effective in the inner city.
“The police department’s numbers, when it comes to
minorities, are not great,” Wormely said. “In my class,
which was the class of ‘83’, they hired a lot of
minorities. (Now) we are leaving.”
According to Wormely, shrinking diversity on the police
force means less minority officers available for community
outreach programs. “They used to have 100 to 150 minorities
on the department,” Wormely said. “(Now) you might have 60
out of 400 or 500 patrolmen.
And although Wormely said that incoming officers receive
some diversity training, ultimately it is the experience of
working with minorities that causes real change. “Diversity
for officers dealing with African American kids help you
(to) be more diverse,” she said. “Listening to what they
want to tell us helps me grow and be able to address their
needs. I’m at the end of my career and you still get 110
percent out of me,” Wormely added. “That’s almost unheard
of. I’m always looking at how we (can) make things better
for our youth, because I really want them to be able to
contribute in society.”
Wormely said that although she works with a lot of inner
city youth, she doesn’t limit herself and hopes that her
replacement will share her passion for what the prevention
team does. “I can deal with anybody, white, Chinese, black,
it doesn’t matter,” she said. “But they need to make sure
they have the right person in this position, somebody that
really cares.”
But Wormely and Daniels are not alone in their support and
hope for Toledo’s youth. The prevention team programs have
the support of the city and the department.
“Last year our chief and our mayor showed up the last day of
class,” said Daniels. “We had a large award ceremony where
we personally acknowledged every young child who
participated. This year we’re hoping for a hundred kids per
day,” he said. “It’s just a great program. We love it. The
kids love it.”
To register for the Brains and Body Summer Fitness Challenge
contact Officer Byron Daniels at 419-245-1165 or Officer Flo
Wormely at 419 245-1367 or pick up a registration form at
the Ottawa Park police substation located at 2145 N. Cove
Blvd. in Toledo. |
