JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Youth Center members are hoping a discussion they had with police officers from the 502nd Security Forces Squadron at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston in April will lead to further cooperation and understanding between youth and law enforcement.
On April 7, Lt. Steven Dews, 502nd SFS police supervisor, and Lt. Jerry Welge, 502nd SFS assistant operations officer, were invited to the youth center to answer questions from youth on the role of law enforcement officers in the post community and their perspectives on interactions between youth and police.
The discussion was hosted by the youth center’s Keystone Club, which is part of the Boys & Girls Club program. The club provides leadership development activities for youth ages 14 to 18.
Melissa Medellin, youth center Keystone Club president, said the discussion was part of a national Keystone service project that encouraged dialogue between youth and police.
“The purpose of the project was to get a better understanding between youth and law enforcement,” Medellin said. “Also, to find out ways to build a better relationship with law enforcement; finding out different things that we can do and they can do to make the relationship better. We were thinking because there was so much going on in social media about law enforcement and then publicly with law enforcement, we thought it was a good idea to bring law enforcement in so we could answer a lot of those questions a lot of the youth had.”
Janet Rivera, JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Youth Center program lead, said the 10 youths who participated in the service project came up with 10 questions they asked the security forces officers, including why the officers chose a career in law enforcement and continue to serve, their duties as a police officer, what experiences they have had on the job and their perspectives on incidents involving law enforcement and the public, including those that result in police brutality.
She said the youth conducted the discussion in a professional, yet friendly, way with the police officers.
“I liked how they articulated their thoughts,” Rivera said. “I liked the easygoing conversation. They felt very comfortable. It was a great dialogue.”
Akyma Bush, a Keystone Club member, said both Dews and Welge answered the youth’s questions in a professional and informative manner that was understandable.
“They were talking a lot about how they wanted to connect with the youth, how they try to do things and how they were trying to inform us about law enforcement,” Bush said. “They were just letting us know that they are looking out for our best interests.”
Another Keystone Club member, Destinie’ Small, said the security forces officers she talked to are dedicated to protecting the public.
“I found it interesting that even though with all this stuff that’s going on in the news,” Small said, “they still choose to get up at 3 a.m. in the morning and put on their uniform and go out there and save people.”
Dews said the youth asked him some very passionate questions, including issues concerning police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I wanted to let them pick my brain and be candid with them and talk with them about whatever they were passionate about,” Dews said. “I hope they learned from us that we are approachable. I wanted them to know that they could walk up and say, ‘Hey, sir or ma’am, I have a question,’ and not feel threatened by doing so.”
Dews said he would like to have more discussions, forums and interactions with youth in the future.
“I learned all the age groups have questions, from the elementary school kids to the seniors in high school,” he said. “They are all worried about current events in the world. I learned that they all have questions and they are all looking for answers.”
Now that the youth center has made a connection with security forces, Rivera said she hopes the officers can come back and talk to the youth about bullying and help them in a campaign to raise awareness about the problem and to prevent it.
“We are going to utilize them more often in different areas,” she said.