Our Youth & Police Focus Group Program is a bold study that allows police officers and youth to see each other face-to-face, as fellow humans, in order to break barriers that otherwise keep us apart. The groups explore challenging topics, participate in activities, and get to know one another through a specially designed curriculum. Our goal is to offer an opportunity to form real bonds while utilizing research to track academic, confidential results.
In winter and spring of 2019, David Douglas High School students and law enforcement officers from five local police agencies participated in an eight-session focus group study. For 90 minutes at each session, students and officers had face-to-face conversations around difficult topics and how they have been personally impacted or affected. While the conversation was often challenging, students and officers built authentic relationships during their focus group time by learning about each other at a face-to-face level.
Thank you to our original participants: students from David Douglas High School and all of our law enforcement partners from the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon Health Sciences University Police, Port of Portland Police, and Oregon State Police.
What’s next for our Focus Groups?
Face-to-Face has created a Focus Group package that can be implemented anywhere in the country. All of the research follows strict protocols and is invaluable as we continue to serve our vision of Trust Between Police and All Communities.
Would you like to help?
We need your help to make our focus groups work in our community! Please contact us if you’d like to help at Amy@facetofacepdx.org or 503.318.3582
- Are you a member of an organization that has professional facilitators (either paid or volunteer) and would like to participate in implementing focus groups?
- Would you like to donate to support the Focus Group program? Financial donations help fund incentives, snacks for participants, and other materials necessary for success.
- Are you part of a youth organization and would like to discuss participation in our focus groups?
- Do you have other ideas for helping us be successful in connecting cops with youth ages 14-23? Let us know!