A unique approach to crime prevention in Brooklyn Park has led to reduced crime and better outcomes for at-risk youth.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s crime intervention unit (CIU) is a community-focused program dedicated to guiding high-risk youth toward a positive future.<\/p>\n
This crime intervention group has been on the ground for at least seven months, and they\u2019re already seeing progress.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Brooklyn Park unveils \u2018first-of-its-kind\u2019 youth violence prevention team<\/a><\/p>\n In Brooklyn Park, you\u2019ll find familiar faces in bright green sweatshirts in crime hotspots, showing there\u2019s power in presence.<\/p>\n The group is part of the community intervention team launched in March.<\/p>\n Their goal is to connect, but not confront. They focus on checking in with businesses, talking with residents, and keeping young people on the right path.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have individuals who are lived experienced, but also educated. When you put those things together, you have what you need to make success,\u201d LaTreasure Dickson, community intervention manager, said.<\/p>\n City data shows a 16% drop in crime this quarter in the top 20 areas the team visits most often.<\/p>\n At-risk youth are at the center of their mission.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re needing those mentors. They\u2019re needing that voice. They\u2019re needing that person. They\u2019re needing someone to look at them and say, \u2018I see you and I hear you,\u201d Dickson said. \u201cIt\u2019s consistency. We show up when they don\u2019t want us to show up. We show up when they think that we\u2019re not going to show up.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklyn Park police sends referrals, and this team steps in. They follow up by offering resources that range from housing to a part-time job.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need a lot of support, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m here,\u201d Khadija Frazier, youth and family intervention specialist, said. \u201cMy \u2018why\u2019 is changing the community and making sure that the youth can thrive successfully along with their families.\u201d<\/p>\n City data shows 75% of the youth who engage with the team were not listed as suspects in any new police incidents afterward.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re youth that need help and that want to have a successful life. They just need a little bit of good direction,\u201d Frazier said.<\/p>\n Program leaders said the effort is partially funded by the city and supported through grants.<\/p>\n Leaders explained they\u2019re hopeful the success will bring in more funding in the future.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFor Related Stories:\u00a0Brittney Ermon<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Brooklyn Park<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0Crime<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A unique approach to crime prevention in Brooklyn Park has led to reduced crime and better outcomes for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[13333,98,100,99,5796,303,9,24,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-19442","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brittney-ermon","9":"tag-brooklyn","10":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","11":"tag-brooklyn-news","12":"tag-brooklyn-park","13":"tag-crime","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-city","16":"tag-nyc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}