When police agencies do not take responsibility for establishing how they wish to be perceived by
the community, others will. The resulting product will likely not be accurate or how leaders want to
be seen by the community.
Middle school students are very impressionable, the attitudes and opinions during this period of
their lives can follow them into adulthood. “Successful Tips for Youth on Law Enforcement En-
counters” (S.T.Y.L.E.) is designed to educate middle school youth of the many dangers officers
encounter, explain why officers take specific actions, and how to act when they encounter police
officers. Working with the U. S. Attorney’s Office in the Middle District of Georgia, Chief Nealie
McCormick and the Pelham Police Department recently hosted the S.T.Y.L.E. program in the Pel-
ham City Schools. The agency partnered with the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Office, Georgia State
Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Ju-
venile Justice to present the program.
Lasting half the school day, the program began with an overview of the day’s activities and basic
legal overview. Videos of actual police shootings were shown and Leah McEwen from the U. S.
Attorney’s office, explained step by step what was happening and why officers took specific ac-
tions.
Afterwards, students broke into smaller groups and rotated through four different scenarios in-
cluding a domestic call, disturbance, traffic stop and interaction with a person in a public area.
Chief McCormick said, “it was a like a mini police academy.” He felt having the different agencies
involved gave the students a broader perspective. In addition, to teaching what and why officers
use specific techniques, the youth were also taught how to de-escalate a situation. As part of this,
officers explained that if they felt they were not treated right, don’t get into an argument with an
officer. Rather, steps to properly file a complaint afterwards were explained.
www.gachiefs.com • Page 12 • 1st Quarter Newsletter