The leadership class is needed because, “I think we need to be working on something that will head off and decrease the violence that we have within the city and in certain communities,” Harris said. “I want to bring the numbers down in the Second and Fourth wards, of these young kids killing each other.”
One thing that will be important for the citizens’ academy for adults and the leadership academy for the youth is for participants to “ask questions on how to protect your life when you have an encounter with a police officer — if you’re pulled over, or if you’re suspected of something, however it may be — how to come out of that alive,” Harris said.
Aside from being a longtime neighborhood leader, Harris, who teaches Karate, is a former national (1975) and world Karate champion (1978 and 1981).
“We need to be pulling something together to have it ready to roll out by June,” Harris said about the leadership academy.
People can register for the citizens’ academy by calling police at 513-868-5811, ext. 2007, said police spokesman Sgt. Richard Burkhardt. The academy classes will happen 6-9 p.m. every Thursday from April 8 through May 13. People interested in the leadership academy can text Harris at 513-578-5040.
“We’ve still got some room left,” Burkhardt said.
Harris said he also is hoping the city will create a community commission on police relations. That would be a helpful way for citizens to receive “accurate information from the police department, and so we have a conduit to everything that’s going on — both ways.”
Police occasionally have complained about lack of help from residents in providing tips that could help them solve crimes.
Today, “kids are stuck at the computer and doing video games,” Harris said. “Those video games are just games. And as they grow up, they don’t have the reality of what a life is, and once you take it, you can’t get it back. Basically I want to engage the kids.”
Harris hopes citizens and ministers will become more involved with policing “and cleaning the community, and preparing for opportunities that may come our way,” with the economic surge that is expected in Hamilton from the under-construction Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill, which is to be North America’s largest indoor sports facility, with a convention center and at least one hotel.
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