Dallas Police Youth Foundation

Police athletic/activities league pal is a mentoring program facilitated by Police officers. Pal programs are geared to create high levels of personal interaction between Police officers and Youth. Participants are required to maintain good behavior, good grades, and are encouraged to participate in community based volunteer programs. Pal programs serve Youth ages 6 through the late teenage years. Many of the Youth served by pal programs live in targeted area action grid or taag areas within the city geographic areas where conditions are highly favorable for criminal activity. Statistically, taag areas account for approximately 6% of the geography but almost 40% of crime. Current programs include but are not limited to: boxing, midnight basketball, horsemanship, robotics, mentoring, chess, pal singers, pal scholars, music including guitar lessons, and bicycling. Primary activities take place in locations throughout the city of Dallas although participants may travel to surrounding communities for competitions i.e. Races honoring charitable causes or out of state to recognized tournaments in their specific discipline i.e. Boxing.

The Dallas Police explorer program is for young people ages 14-21 who are interested in law enforcement as a possible career. Explorers participate in weekly meetings that teach them about law enforcement as well as life skills to prepare them to become the leaders of tomorrow. Meetings are held at dpd patrol division geographically located throughout the city. They participate in law enforcement competitions around the country, further exposing them to the requisite initiative, foresight, guidance, exemplary ethics, and influence required of a good leader. Community service is required and becomes instilled as a character trait with our explorer Youth and is a leadership quality the Dallas Police explorer program embraces.

Junior explorer program - for those Dallas officers who have worked with explorers over the years, the need to have a program for kids younger than 14 was apparent thus work began to create the junior explorer program. It is aimed at Youth ages 10-13 who have an interest in law enforcement and was rolled out in january 2015 to unanticipated enthusiasm. The goals of the junior explorer preogram include: help the Youth stay out of trouble, gain confidence in themselves, learn how to make good decisions and how to become eligible to join the Dallas Police explorer program when they turn 14 years of age. Junior explorer advisors officers aid in positive decision making in order to establish a solid Foundation of moral and ethical stability in the Youth as they grow into adulthood. Funding is utilized for supplies and occasional mission appropriate field trips in an effort to expand the participant's horizons.

The blue in the school bits program is aimed at 4th grade students and is four lessons lasting one hour each taught in Dallas schools. The curriculum addresses topics ranging from drug awareness and anti-bullying to social media pitfalls and domestic violence. These topics are addressed through the six pillars of character: respect, resonsibility, trustworthiness, caring, fairness and citizenship. Using the six pillars of character, uniformed Dallas Police officers assist students in developing a roadmap which will allow them to navigate through negative situations. Funding was utilized for supplies workbooks and the hiring of Dallas Police officers during their off-duty hours to provide the instruction

The doug woodham Dallas junior Police academy jpa is an intensive one-day program for Youth from throughout the city of Dallas. The program seeks to provide age-appropriate information to kids on important topics related to policing and personal safety. This program acts as a gateway program for many other dpd programs as many of the kids who participate in jpa go on to engage in other dpd Youth outreach programs. The jpa program was initiated in 2010 and has grown significantly in successive years. This one-day program provides basic 4th - 7th grades and advanced 8th - 10th grades classes. Each class is provided with a uniform shirt, nametag, and a badge number and students are assigned to a team led by a uniformed Police officer. After a welcome by the chief of Police, the participants engage in a variety of activities. No detail of the day is insignificant. The day is a deliberate balance of information designed to provide the students with tools to keep themselves safe and fun activities to hold their interest. Participants receive information on nutrition and an emphasis on staying hydrated, while taking part in physical activities led by dpd Police academy training staff. Participants will ride on the track at the academy in a patrol car with the lights and sirens, and will engage in a timely and age appropriate presentation on domestic dating violence. Participants will also dust and lift their fingerprints just like they see on television and then listen raptly to a former gang member who was shot and blinded by his so-called friends. At the end of the day, each participant will receive a Police badge noting their successful completion of this program. Funding is utilized for supplies.