The 2009 Essay Contest Winner

The 6th Annual LAPD Essay Contest was open to students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades enrolled in the Los Angeles Unified School District and schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.  Students were asked to write what they would do that would have the greatest impact on the community if they were a Los Angeles Police Department officer for a day.  Each of the ten winners and their essay are featured on the Department’s website, one each week.  The following essay is one of the ten winning submissions.

If I were an LAPD officer, how could I impact the community?  I would let people know we are there to help.  Community problems worth working on are drug awareness, neglected children, and how to help us become closer to the community we serve.

One of the major problems in our community or should I say the whole country, is teens taking drugs.  This is a danger to themselves and everybody around them.  I would visit schools and tell the children about the terrible things that drugs do.  I would visit kids in detention centers and ask them to help younger children stay off drugs by having them tell their stories.

Next, I would focus on neglected children.  These children are virtually defenseless in life.  They are too young to get a job and are usually afraid to ask for help because they don’t trust adults anymore.  Maybe their parents are on drugs or there is no food in the house.  I would persuade their parents to get help.  I would visit the children and tell them to call me in an emergency.  I would organize events like bake sales, concerts, or talent shows to raise funds for groceries or clothes to make their lives a little easier.  I would ask stores to help out too.

The final task would be to help turn young kids’ lives around by being a good example.  I would join a big brother program and convince some police officers to join.  Spending time with kids is the only way to make them trust you.  I would organize some basketball or baseball games with the local kids so that they can see that we like fun too and help get rid of the bad stereotype we have.

So if I were an LAPD officer, I would strive to make the city of Los Angeles a better place especially for children who are the future.  I would get officers to join me in making sure that the children know we care about them.

Comments

[Steve]

I hope you'll post an article here on the LAPD blog about the new LA Times survey that found public approval of the Los Angeles Police Department has significantly increased.