Somerville Initiative builds bond between police, students

Students can be a bundle of nerves on the first day of school, especially if they’re moving from fifth grade to sixth, which can be a big transition. Starting this year on the first day of school, Somerville’s sixth graders got extra support from five Somerville police officers who will be in their lives until graduation through the city’s new mentorship initiative.

Students and Teachers Engage Public Safety (STEPS) is a partnership between the city, police department and public schools and is believed to be the first of its kind in the state. The initiative puts five Somerville police officers in the district’s sixth grade classes to serve as long-term mentors.

The officers will spend time with the sixth graders during lunch and recess as well as attending extracurricular activities and school performances. Participating officers volunteered for the program and are early in their police career, with all but one being a Somerville public schools graduate, according to Somerville Police Chief David Fallon.

The goals of the initiative go beyond this school year, Fallon said, as officers will continue their relationship with the same sixth grade class for seven years, up until their graduation in 2022. Next year, an additional five police officers will be assigned to the sixth grade class, with the police department expecting to have 35 officers involved in the program over the next seven years.

In the wake of growing tensions between communities and police officers around the country, STEPS aims to increase trust and develop positive relationships early on in the lives of young people, Fallon said. By committing to establishing long-term relationships until graduation, they hope to assist in helping young people grow into responsible adults, Fallon said.

“We want our officers’ relationships with the young people in Somerville to start early and to combat the negative images and sound bites they see in the media,” he said.

In a statement, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said, “We will be building a community where our police and youth have a stake in each other’s lives and the importance of that – especially in
today’s policing environment – can’t be understated.”

The Somerville Fire Department will also be involved, with the Public Education Unit teaching students about how to handle emergencies.

For more information, contact Somerville Police Chief David Fallon at (617) 625-1600, ext. 7200.