KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — It appears that a program call Group Violence Intervention which focuses on reducing youth and gang violence by targeting those most likely to commit crimes and homicides is paying off.
Kalamazoo City Commissioners got an extensive three hour overview on the current state of the Public Safety Department and what new Chief Karianne Thomas plans to do with it Tuesday night.
Assistant Chief Dave Boysen gave an update on their efforts to stem youth violence and he says the results have been good.
They have been able to reduce the number of shootings by 63%.
He says they employ former juvenile offenders who have street credentials to show the violence prone juveniles that there is another way.
He says their latest group of 21 juvenile offenders have 120 arrests on their records.
Each will get a Public Safety Officer as a volunteer mentor and introductions to existing programs that help with GED’s, job skills and public assistance.
Chief Thomas says one of her biggest concerns is making sure she has the manpower to continue to provide adequate services.
The deadline passed Tuesday for the next class of Public Safety trainees, and Thomas says many may sign up but only a few will make it through their screening process and into the training program. It has just been revealed that 492 applied.
They will be given an aptitude test and a physical agility exam. If that doesn’t knock them out, many withdraw when they look at what the background check will entail.
There is a 16-week Police Academy at KVCC, another 16-weeks of internal training on fighting fires, two to three weeks of EMS training and other specialized training for deescalating violent situations, racial sensitivity and dealing with the mentally ill, among others.
Thomas says its “messy messy” work, it’s not a very popular career choice right now and they are competing with every other department for qualified candidates, in a tight labor force where there are much easier professions that pay just as much or more.
She says a 7-month process begins now which will whittle down the nearly 500 who applied online, and produce maybe a dozen new officers in December, if they are lucky.
