July 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 18

People for Parks
Safe and Engaged
A Florida police chief uses parks and recreation programs to help at-risk youth
By Peter Magnuson

sk the average person what they think of when they hear " parks, "
and you will likely get answers ranging from playgrounds to hiking to
picnics. For St. Petersburg, Florida, Chief of Police Charles " Chuck "
Harmon, you'll get something a bit unexpected.
" Our park and summer recreation programs are opportunities to keep kids
involved in constructive situations with positive role models so they don't end up
in the criminal justice system, " says Harmon, who has held his post since 2001.
With 20 percent of the city's population under age 18, this is especially important during the summer
months. It is during this time that,
according to an article last year in the
Tampa Bay Times, " many teens have
less access to structured activities and
too much time on their hands. "
To counter this, Harmon has been
a leader in several key initiatives that
closely link the police department with
the park and recreation department.
One program is Operation Safe
Summer, which takes the school-based
safety officers and redeploys them into
the parks and recreation centers during

the summer. " These officers already
know the kids, and it's easy for them
to talk with and work with them, " Harmon says. " They also know the recreation staff very well and can help address any current or potential issues. "
Another program is Inner-City Operation to Recruit for Public Safety
(iCORPS). This program began in
2011 after three St. Petersburg police
officers were killed in a 30-day span.
" We needed to create a program that
bridged a gap that existed between
the local community and the police
department, " says Program Director Kevin Kenyon. The result is this

Harmon and other city staff compete against local youth in the St. Petersburg Mud Wars.

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eight-week program that exposes middle-school children to public-safety
occupations. As many as 80 students
from the Child's Park Recreation Center and Johns Hopkins Middle School
participate in the program, which
takes place at the St. Petersburg College Center for Public Safety Innovation at the All-State Center. During
the program, the students hear from
community leaders and get to tour the
courthouse, see a K-9 unit demonstration and even rappel off a building.
Over the past few years, Harmon
has overseen the creation and building of these programs, and he understands the important role the park
and recreation department plays in
helping kids not just stay out of trouble, but succeed in the community.
" The political favor has always been
to give cops more resources to deal with
issues, and I have always tried to resist
that, " says Harmon. Instead, Harmon
would rather build partnerships.
" Solving these issues is a team effort, " he says. " Every Tuesday, I sit
down with the parks and recreation
team, and we share what is going on.
We are definitely on the same page
when it comes to keeping the kids out
of trouble. "
As these programs are fairly new,
Harmon looks forward to seeing positive results. With his leadership and
these great partnerships, there's no
doubt he and the City of St. Petersburg
will succeed.
Peter Magnuson is NRPA's Director of
Marketing (pmagnuson@nrpa.org).

July 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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