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ACCPD Kicking Off Cops & Barbers Porgram

ACCPD

The Athens-Clarke County Police Department is kicking off its Cops and Barbers program Saturday, May 4th.

Officers are picking up local children from their homes and taking them to a barbershop or beauty salon for a haircut or hairdo.  Corporal Jerry Johnson is assigned to the Community Outreach Division of the department, and he is managing the local program.

“He or she will be building a rapport with the child, the child’s parents,” according to Johnson. “Once at the barbershop, then the officer would engage in conversation with other barbers and beauticians in the shop, as well as any customers that’s there; to just find out what they expect from the Athens-Clarke county, any questions they might have, any recommendations, any concerns.”

A North Carolina barber began the national program in 2015 after the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. To bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community.

” It was an idea that Chief Spruill brought down with him It originated in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area. Chief Spruill thought it would be a good idea to bring something like that down here to Athens. If you really wanted to find out what’s going on in the community, we all would got to the barbershop to find out. I look to gain more knowledge of what’s going on out here in the community. We wanted to find out what I can do better as an officer.”  

Local schools selected the children to take part in the program.

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