Students Talking it Over with Police (STOP) Program Recognized
The following article highlights accomplishments by Milwaukee’s finest! Safe & Sound has benefitted from the strong working relationships with Officer Bill Singleton, Sgt. Delmar Williams, Officer Weiskopf and Dr. Tina Freiburger on not only the STOP program, but also Certified Alcohol Server Trainings (CAST), Safe & Sound Safe Nights and numerous other community policing initiatives. We are proud of the accomplishments of the STOP team and admire the hard work and dedication of all those involved. They are a true asset and inspiration for our Milwaukee youth. Congratulations!
From the International Association of Chiefs of Police 2011 Excellence in Law Enforcement Research Award Recipients
In January of 2011, members of the Milwaukee Police Department launched the Students Talking it Over with Police (STOP) program in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. The program was developed by rank-and-file members of the department who had been challenged in the fall of 2010 by Chief Edward Flynn to find a way to get to know and engage “the good kids” that we come into contact with in many of the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. A few months later, STOP was born. Working closely with UWM professors the officers implemented STOP in the Boys and Girls Clubs, with plans to expand the program and move into the Milwaukee Public Schools, the largest school district in the State of Wisconsin. The program’s goals are to educate young people on the nature of police work, explain the reasons that otherwise law-abiding citizens might sometimes find themselves interacting with police officers, and establish rules of conduct for both the police officers and the teens who graduate from STOP. Most importantly the STOP program aims to increase positive perceptions of the police among teens who have been identified as leaders among their peers. After completing STOP sessions, the teens are provided a photo ID, a T-shirt, and certificate of completion. The researchers from UWM are essential partners and have developed robust design and evaluation processes to demonstrate the impact of STOP. Preliminary analysis of the first six months has provided statistically significant evidence to suggest that the STOP program has achieved all of its goals, and has even had the unintended benefit of vicarious impact. Participants have reported that they are spreading the word about their positive interactions with the police to their friends and families. As our research partners continue to evaluate STOP, the Milwaukee Police Department is in the process of internally recruiting more STOP facilitators and centralizing the program for citywide implementation in the schools. Because of the dedication of our officers and partners, the robust research methodology, and the carefully documented processes, the STOP program has the potential to become a national model that can be easily replicated with success by other agencies.
Project leaders Sgt. Delmar Williams, Officer William Singleton, and Officer Cullin Weiskopf can be reached at ( 414) 935-7927 or wsingl@milwaukee.gov.
