Blast co-founder Arkeem Brooks knocks at an apartment door at the Hoover Road community. Photo by Henry Haggart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAt each Safe Zone Friday event, BLAST leaders invite adults and kids to speak out about their needs and any long-standing issues in their neighborhood\u00a0at Safe Zone Fridays, gun violence and conflicts with police included. That allows Mayor Schewel or other decision makers who attend to hear directly from the community.<\/span> \n<\/span><\/p>\nA rainy day gave way to sunshine and a cool breeze by the time two dozen officers congregated last Friday at a grassy corner at the Hoover Road complex shortly after 5 pm. As children lined up for ice cream, Kenan and volunteers laid out food trays donated by Home Plate Restaurant, owned by long-time supporter Brian Bibins, whose son was coached by Kenan.<\/span><\/p>\nLoud speakers blasted a song that put perceptions about policing center stage. It started with the sound of blaring police sirens. Then a male voice, raw and staccato, rapped about George Floyd\u2019s death and the \u201cshooting, shooting, shooting\u201d of Black people by police.<\/span><\/p>\nThe officers, a mix of city police and county sheriff\u2019s deputies, didn\u2019t flinch. They talked and bumped elbows with kids and their parents. One deputy threw a football across a muddy clearing to a boy.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter passing out food and goodies to the kids, volunteers ushered residents and officers into a large circle around a grassy clearing. Devonte Smith, a BLAST co-founder, stepped forward and offered help.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIf you need to find a job, maybe we know somebody,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIf you need better relations with the police, you come talk to us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nA BLAST call for donations to help residents at McDougald Terrace public housing community posted on Twitter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBut mostly, he said, he wanted those present \u2014 including City Council members DeDreana Freeman and Pierce Freelon \u2014 to hear residents say what they and their children needed.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cEducation!\u201d one woman offered. \u201cComputers, basketballs, you know, simple stuff \u2014 a jump rope!\u201d added another.<\/span><\/p>\nResidents called for better parks and community centers too. Several parents said they wanted safe outdoor activities for their kids. <\/span> \n<\/span> \n<\/span>Kenan said BLAST plans to respond to that need with \u201cTraining in the Trenches,\u201d an after-school program BLAST will kick off in October. Police officers and former student-athletes, including some of Kenan\u2019s former students, will teach kids sports ranging from football to golf.<\/span><\/p>\nOfficers did not speak during the circle at Friday\u2019s event. But after the event, Sgt. Daryl Macaluso of the Durham Police Department said that community policing, where officers are assigned to neighborhoods where they get to know residents, is essential. <\/span> \n<\/span> \n<\/span>Macaluso is with the department\u2019s Community Engagement Unit, which focuses on crime prevention in Durham\u2019s public housing communities. The department doesn\u2019t have enough officers to ensure that those who respond to a call know the people in neighborhoods where they are dispatched, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI don\u2019t think that would have happened if the officers knew the kids,\u201d he said of the Rochelle Manor incident.<\/span><\/p>\nAs the Safe Zone event finished, Hoover Road resident Dontray Cole, 45, was laughing and filming as BLAST volunteer Omar Humes, 50, played a spirited game of basketball with one boy.<\/span> \n<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cAlmost, man! Get it!\u201d Cole chided as the neighbor\u2019s son ran across the packed dirt, dribbling past Humes to try to make a basket into an old hoop shorn of netting.<\/span><\/p>\nCole\u2019s expression became more pained as he described how he views the way police usually interact with Hoover Road residents. He praised a white officer who he said comes and speaks with the kids every morning. But some officers were \u201crude\u201d and \u201chostile\u201d to residents they perceived as dressing or appearing similar to gang members, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt gets to your heart,\u201d Cole said. \u201cDon\u2019t treat us like zoo animals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nCole said that gunfire in and near the complex, which he attributes to gang members who don\u2019t live in Hoover Road, is a problem. \u201cThe kids are way too young, the shooting gets to their mind,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\nEvents like Safe Zone could help with both gun violence and residents\u2019 relationships with the police, Cole said.<\/span>\u201cThat\u2019s what we need \u2014 show their support. Come check on how everything\u2019s doing,\u201d Cole said, as about half a dozen kids started heading toward their homes as night fell.<\/span> \n<\/span> \n<\/span><\/i>9th Street reporter Charlie Zong can be reached at charlie.zong@duke.edu<\/span><\/i><\/p>\nAt top: Sgt. Daryl Macaluso, who work with police department\u2019s Community Engagement Unit, throws a football to a kid at the Hoover Road community. Photo by Henry Haggart<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Chris Kenan pulled up to his childhood home in East Durham last month, he saw seven mothers standing resolutely with a crowd of children.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[43,57,121],"class_list":["post-4086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-safety","tag-blast","tag-chris-kenan","tag-durham-police-department","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
Some groups want no police, but BLAST works to better connect - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n