Police program aims to build good relationship with Hispanic youths

Published: 2004-06-16

MINNEAPOLIS (CNS) -- David Guzman, 17, has had his share of run-ins with police. Like many Latinos, Guzman thought the police were out to get him. But his last run-in with police showed him a different side of the law that he says changed his life. Earlier this year Guzman and 24 other members of the Holy Rosary youth group in Minneapolis completed the Minneapolis Police Department's Latino Youth Citizen's Police Academy. The teens attended classes where they met police officers and learned about their work. Sgt. Giovanni Veliz and Latino crime prevention specialist John Reed of the Minneapolis Police Department's 5th Precinct started the academy to increase understanding and improve communication between the police and the Latino community. "One of the biggest problems in the Hispanic community is fear of the police, and we're trying to break that down," Reed said in an interview with The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the St. Paul-Minneapolis Archdiocese.

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