To shed the negative image that often comes with wearing a badge, HISD Police Chief Pedro Lopez Jr. is following the lead of police chiefs nationwide to bring relational policing into HISD classrooms and neighborhoods.
That idea, along with a recent significant boost in department funding, paved the way for the district’s new police community outreach team CORE (Community Outreach Responsive Engagement).
“We are determined to go out into the communities, build back those relationships and bridge that gap that has increasingly widened with what has been happening throughout the country,” said HISD Police Officer Steven Bennett, who is one of the six officers serving on the CORE team. “We just want to get out there and do everything we can to repair this relationship between the community and law enforcement.”
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