Police Department

Youth and Police Initiative (YPI) Reunion Celebration TOMORROW

Monique Cotton, Director of Communication and Public Information, 509.363.8285

Wednesday, December 17, 2014 at 1:08 p.m.

The Spokane Police Department will host a Youth and Police Initiative (YPI) reunion celebration tomorrow afternoon from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. (invitation attached). The celebration will reunite YPI participants (youth ages 14 to 18) with SPD officers who have participated in the nine YPI sessions held in 2014. Nearly 100 youth and more than 40 officers are expected to attend the event to celebrate the success of the YPI program.

Youth and Police Initiative (YPI) Reunion Celebration

Tomorrow, December 18, 2014, 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.
West Central Community Center - 1603 N. Belt in Spokane

*Youth and police officer participants will be available for media interviews.

Additional YPI Program Information

January 2015 YPI sessions will be held at North Central High School January 12, 13, 14, 20, and 21 from 2:45 to 4:45 p.m.

Through YPI, the Spokane Police Department and community organizations work together to build more positive relationships between participating youth, the community and law enforcement.

The ultimate goal of YPI is to enhance police officer understanding of the beliefs, values, and experiences of local youth, and to promote positive police/youth interaction. YPI participants experience facilitated discussion, team-building exercises and reality-based training scenarios. From these experiences, youth and police develop new initiatives to enhance community policing.

Participating youth are selected by local community leaders. Participating police officers will attend each session. Additionally, patrol officers in each of the selected neighborhoods will meet and interact with the youth during the workshop.

Following the implementation of YPI programs in the police departments of Baltimore, Boston, White Plans, and Yonkers, participants demonstrated an increased capacity to productively engage with adolescents within urban communities. According to North American Family Institute, the YPI program pro-actively assisted officers in reducing street violence in the following ways:

• 50% increase in police officers' understanding of adolescent development.
• 65% increase in police officer knowledge of urban socialization issues.
• 50% improvement in the use of effective communication strategies involving de-escalation, crisis intervention and problem-solving skills.

Related Photos

• Youth Police Initiative meeting photo

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