MILWAUKEE, Wisc., (SPECTRUM NEWS) - Twenty-four-year-old Dawan probably never thought he’d be comparing tattoos with a Milwaukee police sergeant. But as he and Sgt. Michael Dix held arms side by side and inspected each other’s ink, they embodied Partners in Hope’s mission to “humanize the tattoo, humanize the badge.”
“One item of commonality that you can share with someone, it’s a springboard,” Dix says.
Dix and other law enforcement officers joined a conversation Thursday at Partners in Hope, a faith-based re-entry program for people recently released from prison.
The man leading the discussion, Adam Procell, knows their position well.
He received a life sentence for a murder he committed when he was 15. Since his release after 23 years in 2018, he has worked with other former prisoners to prepare them to build productive lives on the outside. He said Thursday’s dialogue with police is a positive first step.
“We’re not trying to make everything better in one day,” Procell says. “If we can show them that the people that are, in their minds, used to putting them in prison, are the very first people extending a hand when they get out, saying, ‘We need you to succeed,’ it’s a game-changer, mentally and internally.”
Sylvania Crosley just got out after 40 years in prison for first-degree murder. The New Orleans native said he hopes to work with young men and with law enforcement to prevent the type of damage he’s caused in his life, in future generations.
“If we can bridge the gap and change the perception that people have, then we’ll be able to accomplish something,” Crosley says.
Participants at Partners in Hope apply for these workshops, often after referrals from their parole officers.
“People who come out, sometimes they’re in a position where they don’t believe that hope is out there,” Dix says. “And, in truth, there’s people working in law enforcement who look around in communities they’re policing, and they don’t see hope either.”
But this room was filled with hope.
Both former prisoners and police officers hoped to find common ground to build trust, community and a better future.
"entry" - Google News
August 15, 2020 at 04:35AM
https://ift.tt/3kMNjao
Prisoner Re-entry Program Builds Bridges with Police - Spectrum News 1
"entry" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3f5ZAUJ
https://ift.tt/3d6LMHD
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Prisoner Re-entry Program Builds Bridges with Police - Spectrum News 1"
Post a Comment