| PSE&G has entered into a partnership with the Violence Prevention Institute (VPI) based in East Orange, New Jersey. Although we applaud all of VPI’s efforts, we especially focus upon its Cops and Docs Program. The purpose of the program is to reduce youth gun violence by educating the community, specifically young people, about the consequences – medical, legal and emotional – of gun possession and related violence. The program presents students with “real life” information that will enable them to make better choices when faced with decisions regarding weapon carrying and participation in gang activities. Knowledge of the medical realities of gun injuries and the legal consequences of gun possession and use will increase their ability to resolve conflicts through appropriate methods and to report illegal weapon possession. Cops and Docs will also enhance communication between police, students, schools and the medical community.
The Cops and Docs program explores the myths and realities of guns in the hands of teenagers. Presented by a team of police, medical and legal representatives, the program seeks to show a more realistic view of gun injuries, illegal actions as defined by the legal system, and the resulting consequences, with an emphasis on firearms in the hands of minors. The objective is to build safe and healthy communities, free from gun violence and gang activity.
The initial presentation of the program, conducted within a single class period, is carefully designed as an interactive experience for presenters and students. Teams consisting of a physician and a police officer use a slide presentation to discuss the legal and medical consequences of gun possession and use. The presentation includes examples of historical and present day realities regarding the dangers of gang involvement in our communities. The presentation is formatted as case scenarios supported by actual stories of the subsequent physical, emotional and legal outcomes of the incidents.
The medical segment of the program addresses the very real physical and emotional effects of gun injury on the victim and the victim’s family. It examines the perceptions of power and protection that a gun provides versus the more realistic results of a false sense of security and resulting injuries. The program includes a basic script and an accompanying Power-Point presentation of consequences, such as gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and paralysis as a result of violent crime.
The legal portion of the program builds on the issue of reality versus perception, by exploring attitudes about carrying a gun, and stresses the importance of making choices that won’t jeopardize a young person’s future plans and dreams. Many aspects of the legal code are defined, and the consequences of breaking the law will be presented. The legal consequences are demonstrated by law enforcement personnel and include emphasis on treating every gun as if it is loaded, that there are consequences of under-age gun possession, including expulsion from school and criminal prosecution. Most importantly, emphasis is placed on the inevitable unplanned use of a gun in anger.
Through various scenarios the program provides alternatives for self-protection that are safer than firearms (such as alerting the system, telling someone in authority, a parent, teacher, etc.), discussion on the reality of arrest and felony conviction including loss of freedom and choice (voting, employment, clothes, food, activity, and friends), and resources that are available for conflict or crisis situations, (conflict resolution for parents and teens working with law enforcement).
The students are given pre-test before the presentations and post-tests after them to see if there are changes in attitudes regarding violence. The Institute will be conducting this research as a longitudinal study. The VPI was founded and is headed by Dr. Duane Dyson, a medical doctor.
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