Milwaukee Police Department District 3's "Read to Me" Program

Milwaukee police arm children with books. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/16/2012)

Excerpt:   Using state-of-the-art tools employed by the Milwaukee Police Department such as video cameras and computer mapping systems, along with old-school, cop-on-the-beat techniques, officers from the District 3 station have added using the printed word to combat crime. 

Ten officers from the station at 2333 N. 49th St. are reading stories to and getting books into the hands of youths at the Next Door Foundation in the Metcalfe Park neighborhood with a collection drive for the foundation's Books for Kids program. 

It could be called a "throw the book at 'em," or "books-not-bullets" approach to crime-fighting, but Lt. Aimee Obregon calls it a positive experience for both the children and the cops. 

"Many times when these kids see officers it's in a negative situation," Obregon said, "and we're trying to change the way they look at us. 

"Fifteen years from now they're going to be adult citizens and we want to build as positive a relationship with them as we can." 

The "Read to Me" program involves volunteers from the community reading to 2- to 5-year-olds in the foundation's Head Start and charter school programs to help boost the children's pre-reading skills.