🏠🚔 CHICAGO'S FIRST “COP HOUSE” OPENS ON THE FAR SOUTH SIDE... AND NO, IT'S NOT A HOUSE FULL OF COPS EATING DONUTS 😂

Chicago has officially opened its first Community Oriented Policing House, better known as a COP House, near 120th Street and Indiana Avenue on the Far South Side.

And before everybody starts yelling, “WHY ARE WE BUYING THE POLICE A HOUSE?!” 😭

That's not exactly what this is.

The newly renovated property is designed to put police, community organizations and social services under one roof, with a major focus on helping young people and addressing some of the problems that can lead to violence in the first place.

🏚️ THEY TURNED AN ABANDONED HOUSE INTO A COMMUNITY RESOURCE

The property at 12020 S. Indiana Avenue had been vacant before being redeveloped as the city's first COP House.

The concept is modeled after a program in Racine, Wisconsin, and received initial financial support from SC Johnson, which has operations in the nearby Pullman area. The company provided $250,000 toward the Chicago project.

Instead of another abandoned property sitting on the block collecting weeds, boarded-up windows and neighborhood complaints, somebody said:

“What if we actually put something useful in it?”

Well LOOK AT THAT.

A NOVEL CONCEPT. 😭

👮🏾‍♂️ BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS INSIDE?

The upstairs portion is expected to be used by the Chicago Police Department and Cook County Sheriff's Office.

Downstairs is where the community-service side comes in.

Programs are expected to include job and workforce assistance, youth mentoring, violence prevention, mental-health support, technology resources, case management and family services. Metropolitan Family Services is serving as the lead service provider.

Kids Off the Block is also involved with mentoring and violence-prevention work, while the Greater Roseland Chamber of Commerce is expected to provide workshops for existing and aspiring entrepreneurs.

So basically:

Police upstairs.

Resources downstairs.

And hopefully somebody somewhere in that building can help a young person BEFORE we're reporting about them on the 10 o'clock news.

Now THAT part has my attention.

👦🏾👧🏾 YOUNG PEOPLE ARE A BIG PART OF THE PLAN

A major focus of the program will be young adults between 16 and 24 years old, connecting them with education, employment, mentoring and other opportunities.

That's important because community safety isn't only about what happens after somebody commits a crime.

Sometimes it's about what was available before they ever got there.

A job.

A mentor.

Mental-health services.

Somebody helping you finish school.

Somebody helping you figure out how the hell you're supposed to build a résumé when you're 18 and nobody ever taught you.

Those things aren't nearly as dramatic as flashing police lights.

But they can matter.

🤔 NOW HERE COMES THE HARD PART: TRUST

You can put police and social services in the same building.

You can renovate the house.

You can cut the ribbon.

You can take the pictures.

But you cannot renovate trust in three weeks.

And people involved in the project acknowledge that's going to be one of the biggest challenges.

Diane Latiker, founder of Kids Off the Block, told ABC7 that the project will have to earn the community's trust. One young participant also described feeling uncomfortable simply approaching the space because of his experiences and perceptions involving law enforcement.

And THAT may be the most important part of this entire story.

Because if young people don't trust the building enough to walk through the door, it doesn't matter how pretty the renovation is.

🎙️ LADY RED SAYS...

Now THIS is the kind of South Side story I want mixed into our news.

Because every time somebody mentions Roseland, Pullman or West Pullman, the story does NOT have to start with:

“Police responded to shots fired...”

Sometimes the story can be:

“We took an abandoned building and put JOBS, MENTORS, MENTAL-HEALTH SERVICES AND RESOURCES in it.”

HELLO?! 👏🏾

Now, I'm not handing out trophies yet.

A ribbon cutting is easy.

Making this thing WORK is the assignment.

If you tell the neighborhood you're bringing resources, then bring the resources.

If you tell young people there will be opportunities, make sure those opportunities actually lead somewhere.

And if you're calling it community-oriented policing, then the COMMUNITY better be more than a word on the brochure.

But I'm rooting for anything that gives a 17-year-old somewhere to walk into and say:

“I need a job.”

“I need somebody to talk to.”

“I need help.”

Instead of us meeting that same child later after something has already gone terribly wrong.

Now THAT is something worth watching.

And Chicago...

TURNING AN ABANDONED HOUSE INTO A RESOURCE CENTER?!

Look at us using a vacant building for something besides letting the raccoons claim squatter's rights. 😂👏🏾

Let's see what they do with it.

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