When a police officer approaches a teenager, the officer brings a badge, a gun and the power to arrest.
What the officer doesn’t always have, though, is an understanding of the factors influencing the teen and the way their brain functions.
Sometimes that’s a problem, and the situation escalates.
There might be fewer problems in the area after next week.
The Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative program serving Wayne, Henry and Delaware counties will try to help the counties’ police officers better understand teenagers — and their brains — this week. Four days of Policing the Teen Brain training will be conducted by Strategies for Youth, a Cambridge, Mass.-based organization.
Material from Strategies for Youth says the training “equips officers with practical and applicable strategies and scientific and evidence-based information that promote positive interactions and reduce conflict.”