California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2018_Spring Magazine_Final | Page 15

tos Joint Forces Training Base, whose
mission is to reclaim the lives of high
school dropouts, producing graduates
with the values, life skills and self-dis-
cipline necessary to succeed as pro-
ductive citizens. With the additional
funding to support tuition, Sunburst
has succeeded in enrolling more
students and elevating grade point av-
erages from failing to 4.0, thus leaving
them bound for college.
Going further, the Task Force
is collaborating with the Boys and
Girls Club, which provides a place
our youth can go after school to learn
about leadership, interact with strong
role models that not only include staff,
but police officers as well. Through
the Club, children have a place to go
do their homework, to socialize and
develop relationships with others
boys and girls their own age, and to
be involved in educational programs,
all in an effort to keep them off the
street and out of gangs. Just recently,
the additional funding allowed the
Buena Park Club to renovate its gym,
create a basketball camp and expand
its academic programs.
This represents an indelible
investment into the Club’s mission to
enable all young people to reach their
full potential as productive, caring,
responsible citizens.
Partnering with CityNet, a
non-profit organization that works
with faith-based groups, as well
as the Orange County Health Care
Agency and various other communi-
ty members, the Task Force is fos-
tering a collective effort of assisting
the homeless in providing housing,
shelter, food, counseling, rehabilitation
and locating families with the hope of
reuniting them. With the additional
funding, CityNet was able to conduct
a real-time census, giving the Task
Force true data to track and contin-
ue offering services to our homeless
neighbors. The Task Force has also
partnered with the County of Orange
to provide resources and ed-
ucation to individuals having
difficulty in successfully tran-
sitioning back into society so
they don’t end up back in jail.
Prior to the birth of the
Task Force, law enforcement
agencies had been addressing
these public safety issues
individually and doing the best
they could with the minimal
resources available, not mak-
ing headway in getting to the
root causes of these societal
issues that have adversely
inundated our quality of life.
This is no longer the case in
North Orange County, thanks
to the additional funding that
has created these stories of
success.
The accomplishments,
made possible through the
resilient partnerships formed by the
Task Force, have proven to be unparal-
leled and the group is truly embarking
on unchartered territory. They are
strongly forging ahead and making a
positive difference in people’s lives!
With this type of determination
and regional approach, the Task Force
knows that excellence is definitely
being defined through its measurable
progress, and feels honored to be the
catalyst of this pilot program that is a
unique example for other counties to
follow. ■
SPRING 2018 | California Police Chief
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