Oakes wants outreach position on WMPD

Oakes wants outreach position on WMPD

Police Commission approves asking for new Community Outreach Coordinator for city in 2018 budget

news@theeveningtimes.com

West Memphis Police Chief Donald Oakes heard the call by the West Memphis City Council to Mayor Bill Johnson for an at-risk youth employment program for next summer and stepped up. The chief asked the West Memphis Police Commission to fund a new police department position, Community Outreach Coordinator, beginning in 2018.

The job, to organize and coordinate at risk youth employment, was only part of the job description on the proposal submitted by Oakes. Also listed among anticipated duties for the Community Outreach Coordinator were running monthly neighborhood meetings or events in the city’s four police districts, engaging community leaders through a law enforcement academy, working in summer youth day camps to improve community trust, establishing an explorer- styled law enforcement club for youth mentoring, and coordinating neighborhood involvement crime prevention groups.

The first year cost of the program was expected to be about $54,000. Wages and benefits for the fulltime dedicated position were projected at $41,000 alone. Partial funding was earmarked from the crime prevention budget line at $27,000 with another $13,000 needed to meet total compensation. Starting pay would be the equivalent of a first year patrolman for the position.

The chief said his skepticism about this kind of police work had flipped in recent years. He said he was schooled on tough enforcement and saw proactive programs as the work of churches, schools, and social workers. His eyes were opened in part through studying results in other cities involved in the Violence Reduction Network. He said he now believes community trust is best developed by intentional police outreach.

“The only time they see us is when we come to the house and somebody goes to jail,” said Oakes. “I’m a convert. I want a job for outreach coordinator. This is where we need to be. It’s a step on the way.”

City council had entertained developing a jobs program through the Community Development Department, with block grant funds providing the funding, but Chief Oakes stepped forward and asked to spearhead the effort. He said the buck stops here.

“We want to run this through the police depart- ment and not through somewhere else,” said Oakes. “The reason I want to have it through us is I can give you the accountability for it. If you give me a position and we agree to pull these programs off, if the programs don’t get done you have me to hold accountable. There is an end of the line.”

The chief acknowledged the six-point plan had lofty first year goals.

“This is very ambitious for one year,” said Oakes.

“The other day we talked with our detectives and were able to name five kids that are at risk youth. These are really good kids that have been caught up in minor non-violent problems

who try to make good

grades in school but go back home to a life mess – can’t do homework, home life is crazy, don’t know where they are. We’d reach out to businesses that already hire youth or are ready to hire youth to work for them during the summer or four hours a day year round. We’d hold back half the salary then a couple weeks before school starts you take them clothes shopping because you helped them save some money while they made some money. It leaves us out of the program of hiring them ourselves. If we reach out to the community we will find enough people to put at risk kids to work.

That’s a full time job to put all this together.”

The committee voted to recommend the position to be included in the budget next year and set the chief out to develop an official job description.

By John Rech