Detroit organization uses sports to bridge gap between police and community

DETROIT (FOX 2) – On Saturday, kids and cops got here collectively to play kickball in Hamtramck.

“There’s a necessity for the group and the police to return collectively. It shouldn’t be the police versus the group, we must always all be one,” Elijah Richardson mentioned.

Richardson based Whose Home Our Home, a Detroit group that works to bridge the hole between police and the group with sports activities.

“We’ve children in our program at first they mentioned they don’t belief the police, they usually’re scared – now they’ve aspirations of being cops at some point. We’re doing it lots and I like it,” he mentioned. “Irrespective of who you might be, the place you come from, you may make a distinction be the change you want to see.”

Richardson mentioned the mission is private for him. He grew up in a single father or mother residence with 10 siblings. He overcame struggles, together with homelessness, earlier than later graduating with a grasp’s diploma in prison justice.

Now, he makes use of his group to convey police and the individuals they serve collectively.

“Typically each child don’t have the power to see the great facet of policing. At present we get to point out we’re extra than simply locking up dangerous guys. We truly are giving again, and we nonetheless actually care, and we’re actually attempting to bridge that hole between the group and policing,” mentioned Lester Johnson, a neighborhood police officer in Detroit.