tatively is scheduled to run until the end of the school year and
resume in the fall. Up to six students — all sophomores through
seniors who attend either the 2,000-student Sequoia High or the
alternative school Redwood High with 400
students — are invited to the meetings.
“We go into each meeting with a freefor-all mentality,” Spicer says. “We have to
have thick skin.”
The teens are asked, for example, if
they’ve ever had contact with an officer,
and how they honestly feel they were
treated.
Like Gamez, Spicer came to Redwood
City from the San Jose P.D., where he
amassed more than 24 years of experience
working with schools in that city.
Spicer says the students selected for
SCAN meetings are representative of a broad demographic.
“We’re looking for kids of all types who we encounter on a
regular basis,” he says.
Topics of discussion so far have ranged from bullying to
safety concerns at school to drug dealers, mental health issues
and a train platform many students must cross while walking to
and from school.
“We’ve already gotten a number of takeaways from these
SCAN meetings,” Spicer says.
And the web-savvy teens also have
advised Gamez on how to beef up the
Redwood City P.D.’s social media efforts,
such as by launching second Facebook
page that will include human interest
stories as well as local crimes stories and
hyperlinks to topics of teen interest such
as the latest shoe fashions.
“We’re letting them have more of a
voice,” the chief says. “We really think
SCAN helps them feel more empowered,
and we certainly see this evolving into a
regular focus group for our department.”
F.W. Wells, principal of Redwood High, likes what he sees
so far.
“Collaboration of this nature is a very important part and
positive step for our students,” Wells says. ?
“We go into
each meeting
with a free-for-all
mentality,” Spicer
says. “We have to
have thick skin.”
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