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COPS CARE Educates Youth and Citizens on Real Life Issues

Since 2003, Cops Care, Inc. has been bringing “real-world education and situational training” programs to schools and the general public. Cops Care’s primary focus is “to facilitate the administration of educational and community outreach programs” which currently run under the auspices of the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association (NYSCOPBA).

Cops Care logo

Mr. Dennis Fitzpatrick, Vice Chairman of Cops Care and Director of Public Relations for NYSCOPBA, said that during its early years the union urged members to do more community service and draw up programs “for the benefit and development of children”. But because unions cannot accept donations, raising funds to continue the programs was an immediate issue. Change was needed. So, NYSCOPBA formed Cops Care as “a charity to house all the benevolent programs”, thus opening doors for fundraising.

“So that was my function,” Fitzpatrick said. “We established these various programs into the schools and for senior citizens, but in doing that we have also raised a tremendous amount of monies for charity. This union, as of last month, has actually donated

$1,340,000 to charity over a 6.5-year period,” Fitzpatrick told The Informed Constituent.

Cops Care programs are “widely sought after” he added. The organization aims to get school resource officials included in the 2006 NY State Budget, and their goal for 2006 is to get sufficient state funds to pay officers to do the programs consistently on state time, and as their full-time jobs.

If state funds were allocated for the maintenance of Cops Care’s youth and citizen programs, it would be paid for by all of us, the taxpayers. Fitzpatrick explained that it would be similar to how taxpayers pay many State Troopers to merely show law enforcement’s presence in schools. “On the contrary, Cops Care officers would be paid for giving actual programs to the schools (K-12),” he said.

Cops Care officers are volunteers who have been contributing their time to increase awareness on safe living and help children “make good choices”.

Educating our youth about the consequences of their choices is exactly what ‘Choosing to Lose’, one of their popular programs, is about. Because of the growing problem of delinquency with youth, giving teenagers a candid perspective on life in prison is what officers say truly works.

Fitzpatrick, a 36-year veteran of the Department of Corrections, explains that this real life situational training is the best way to reach a child. “Here are your choices. You can do the right thing by society, or you can make that wrong choice, and here is what you are going to lose if you make that wrong choice,” he said. “When they see the consequences, it’s amazing.”

Cops Care officers have years of experience within the department, and they instruct children through dialogue as well as video presentations. This way children are more informed about available choices, as well as the relative consequences.

The successful effects of such a program have been ascertained through essay-style questionnaires that have allowed Cops Care to get real feedback in regards to how their thoughts and opinions changed.

“Unlike Scared Straight programs, our approach uses the child's common sense, rather than their fears, to accomplish this goal,” Cops Care writes on their website (www.copscare.com). According to Vice Chairman Fitzpatrick, “Quite frankly, that program never really worked, mainly because they were addressing that program to young adults who had already broken the law.” He added that the kids have a tendency to feel sorry for the person who was in jail and that they try to build a bond with them.

“You don’t scare children today and I don’t think you can threaten them in any way shape or form,” Fitzpatrick said. Furthermore, Cops Care worked with Education and Psychology experts when putting the ‘Choosing to Lose’ program together.

The last time Cops Care did their programs in the Albany Capital Region was when Ken Bruno (Senator Bruno’s son) was the DA in Rensselaer County. After some difficulty working with an “old administration who frowned on these programs”, Cops Care is back up and running again, ready to collaborate with schools and organizations throughout New York State. Last January DA Soares told The Informed Constituent, “Scared Straight works for some and not for other kids. We need to be very open and honest with our children.” It sounds like Albany County might appreciate these “real life” programs.

Cops Care will take their programs to your school, youth group, seminar, or meeting. “Your students will be given the facts; a dose of reality, as opposed to the glorified images children often see in the media.” Designed to correspond with school curriculum, the programs have been “recognized as an effective educational approach to social sciences and civic responsibility.”

‘SMART’ is another program about identification, abduction, and awareness. “A sexual predator out in Utica is behind bars because of our ‘SMART’ program, and we know a couple of children were found because of our documents,” Fitzpatrick said. ‘Rudy the Silver Fox’ is for senior citizens, a program about issues like telemarketing scams and predator lending. An unlimited number of are available for free to individuals and organizations. For information on how to get free prescription drug discount cards, go online to www.copsfreecard.org.

Cops Care has opportunities for corporate sponsorship, too. “We have the ability to say that if you want to sign on, we can make a presentation ‘Brought to you by’ Kellogg’s, for example.”

In the penal code, correctional officers are ‘peace officers’. Our job is to maintain the peace, basically, to whatever extent you can, and whatever it takes to maintain that. We don’t look, even as parents, we don’t refer to law enforcement as our friends. They are your friends. We don’t instill this in our children, and that is why when police, corrections, and law enforcement take on more activities in the schools, people would start to see them for what they really are, and they would become their friends.

For more on Cops Care and how to get involved, including corporate sponsorship opportunities:

Dennis Fitzpatrick - Cops Care, Inc 102 Hackett Blvd, Albany, NY 12209 (518) 427-1551 x246 www.copscare.com

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