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July 9-July 15, 2021
NYPD kicks off youth mentoring program in Jamaica
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
NYPD Chief of Patrol
Juanita Holmes kicked off the
official start of Blue Chips, a
citywide co-ed youth mentoring
and sports program, at the
High School for Law Enforcement
in Jamaica on Thursday,
July 1.
The program, which focuses
on bridging the gap between
the police and young people, is
managed by the NYPD Patrol
Services Bureau and open to
kids between the ages of 12
and 17. The basketball league
is open to players between 13
and 16.
Alongside NYPD brass
and in front of spectators and
basketball players looking
forward to dunking the ball
on the court of the third-floor
gymnasium, Holmes said that
Blue Chips provided an opportunity
to impact the lives
of thousands of teenagers
citywide.
Chief Holmes addressed
the players, saying “May the
best team win this evening,”
and reminding them that win
or lose, they were already winners
because they were part of
the Blue Chips program.
Seventy-two teams from 75
precincts will play six-season
games against other squads
from their patrol boroughs before
it’s off to the borough playoffs
on Aug. 9 and the citywide
championship on Aug. 20. The
teams are coached by officers
from the respective precincts
and consist of 12 players each.
Holmes stressed that the
NYPD recognizes the importance
of youth engagement.
She was optimistic that the
citywide program would
further improve already established
relationships with
some of New York City’s youth
and create trust in the police
department.
“I always say intervention
is prevention,” Holmes said.
“We keep our children busy
NYPD Chief of Patrol Juanita N. Holmes tosses the ball of the first Blue Chip basketball game at the High School for Law Enforcement in
Jamaica on July 1, 2021. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
we put them on a path to develop
certain skills and hopefully
have a better opportunity in
life.”
She noted that Blue Chips
was not only about sports but
also about books clubs and
drama clubs, since not all
young people were into athletics.
The program also includes
a community problem-solving
component.
“They will be able to look
at things that need improvement
in their community,
recommend it to us, and we’ll
team up — whether it’s graffiti
that we are addressing,
cleanups being done or maybe
some more plants in the area
— but I think it’s gonna be
tremendous,” Holmes said.
NYPD Lieutenant Michael
Almonte said that mentoring
young people was the
program’s primary focus,
referring to it as “the strongest
part of the system, like a
foundation.”
The kids meet with their
mentor on Tuesdays for mentoring
sessions, which feature
a new topic every week, and
then basketball practice, while
Thursdays are game days.
“We also have guest speakers
that come in to speak to
kids about financial literacy,
entrepreneurship, domestic
violence. Just trying to prepare
them for the future and
give them tools that they can
use in their life when they get
older,” Lieutenant Almonte
said.
Almonte, who has also been
a mentor with Student Sponsor
Partners (SSP) for 11 years,
said that the nonprofit organization
offered eight scholarships
to a private school for
the kids who participate in the
program.
“One kid from each patrol
borough is going to get a
scholarship to a private high
school,” Almonte said. “The
student has to be an average
student, not a student that super
excels because those kids
are going to get scholarships.
So we want to focus on those
kids that are struggling a little
bit.”A
lmonte explained that
the relationships formed
between the police officers
and the young people “were
incredible.”
“You know, that’s a way
to show them there’s a heartbeat
behind this badge. We’re
human, we’re just doing a
job, and we care about you,”
Almonte said.
Young people interested
in signing up with Blue Chips
can contact bluechips@nypd.
org or head over to their local
precinct.
Vol. 7, No. 28 24 total pages
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