Police and YOUth

This book brings the knowledge gained from the Teen And Police Service Academy (TAPS), which has been implemented internationally to create partnerships with at-risk teens and police, proactively addressing some of the most pressing conditions in their communities.

Readers will learn about the nuances of both youth culture and police culture and will better understand the conflict stemming from race and social class. Straightforward solutions stemming from the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing are demonstrated to provide useful strategies for communities struggling with police-youth relations. This book is especially germane to Texas schools and law enforcement, which are to comply with Community Safety Education Act of Texas. It mandates instruction for all peace officers, high school seniors, those applying for their driver’s license and those required to take corrective driver instruction.

Police and YOUth is ideal as a primer for students, instructors, police officers, and citizens who stand to benefit from improving police-youth relations. It provides the tools needed to educate all parties and ultimately improve relations between police and the communities they serve.

Everette B. Penn, Ph.D. is the Director of the Teen And Police Service Academy and Professor of Criminology at the University of Houston- Clear Lake. This ＂academic-practitioner＂ applies theory to practice through programming, research, teaching and training to reduce the social distance between the most at-risk/at-promise youth and police in the United States and abroad. He is the author of over 75 scholarly works, a former Volunteer In Service to America (VISTA), Fulbright Scholar and U.S. Army Officer. He is a certified, Master Police Trainer, and the recipient of dozens of awards from governmental agencies, academic and civic organizations. More about Dr. Penn and TAPS Academy can be found at: www.tapsacademy.org.

Shannon A. Davenport (A.B.D.) is a doctoral candidate of Juvenile Justice at Prairie View A&M University. Her research interest includes police and youth relations, police legitimacy, emotional regulation, and at-risk youth. Combining research, teaching, and service, she volunteers with the Teen And Police Service Academy collecting and analyzing data. She is the author of several publications on topics including the ＂Me Too Movement＂ and ＂Social Distance Between Minority Youth and Police.＂