The Northern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office organized an initiative to provide law enforcement training for more than 40 police officers from school systems in the northern district of Georgia to prevent and reduce delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office partnered with the Georgia Alliance for School Resource Officers and Educators, the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, and the Georgia Gang Investigators Association to provide the officers with Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.).
@NDGAnews organizes gang resistance education and training for local school resource officers https://t.co/BmDzabK1ka @apsupdate @Gasroeorg @GPSTC
— US Attorney NDGA (@NDGAnews) July 24, 2023
G.R.E.A.T., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, is an “evidence-based gang and violence prevention program built around school-centered, law enforcement officer-instructed classroom curricula.”
A key goal of the program, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notes, is to prevent and reduce delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership, especially among children during those formative years when gang membership poses the greatest threat.
Additionally, the program aims to encourage children to develop a more positive relationship with law enforcement and provide students with the opportunity to learn and practice life skills and attitudes required to “treat others with respect, empathy, and make better choices.”
Over 40 school resource officers from metro Atlanta participated in the weeklong training program on July 17- 21 at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. Over 26,000 students attend over 70 local schools that are served by the officers selected by their respective agencies.
“Many of law enforcement’s best work daily in our schools is to keep our children safe while they learn,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement. “Our goal is to successfully divert children from the destructive life of crime that gang activity fosters. G.R.E.A.T. offers real-time skills training aimed at preparing officers for interactions with students who may face decisions regarding gang-affiliation, frequently by force. This training enables our office to expand our multi-faceted approach to stemming youth violence, youth incarceration and gang recruitment, providing an excellent addition to our annual summer youth violence intervention programs.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network.
Photo “Police Officer” by Arlington County. CC BY-SA 3.0.
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