They didn’t trust police in Fort Worth’s north side. Then they started playing basketball
At an after school basketball practice in Diamond Hill, 7-year-old Adrian ran up to his grandmother, Monica Ortiz, claiming he was beating a police officer by three points.
“They’re totally showing off,” Ortiz said as she watched her two grandsons practice with Fort Worth police officers.
She called the weekly event the highlight of their week.
At the Diamond Hill Northside Youth Association’s basketball practice, Adrian and the other 150 players regularly interact with police officers who patrol the area. The association’s basketball league has kids 4 to 13 and runs for about five weeks. A championship game will end the season this month. Officers warm up with the kids, give them tips on how to play better, cheer them on or talk to parents on the sidelines.
The youth association’s president, Roxanne Martinez, welcomed a partnership between the organization and the Fort Worth Police Athletic League, the police department’s program that encourages mentorship through sports.
But Martinez said parents were initially skeptical about the suggestion.
“There was a general distrust of law enforcement amongst many of the parents,” she said.
Parents questioned whether officers were there to supervise the kids or act as security, but they came to understand the officers were there simply to play basketball and talk to them.
The officers have been a part of the youth association’s sports programs for several years. Martinez said the push was inspired after she noticed the nearby school and community center was vandalized.
“When they’re vandalizing ... property, they don’t have avenues to really get involved,” Martinez said.
She has seen things in the last couple of years that remind her of the 1990s, when gangs were more prevalent in Diamond Hill and Northside.
“I never want our community to feel as unsafe as it did when I was growing up,” she said.
She said she fears the isolation brought on since the pandemic could encourage more of this activity.
Shootings increased by 36% in 2020 and 17% in 2021, Fort Worth police reported. Gang-related crime has also been higher in 2021 than in the last two years, according to the department’s latest quarterly crime report. Instances of vandalism increased almost 6% from 2020.
Martinez said that because of her involvement in the community, parents used to bring their safety concerns to her. But parents have gotten to know the officers since they started attending practice, and now know who to call if they’re in trouble.
Other benefits have been tangible. Kids now feel more comfortable approaching and talking to officers, Martinez said, and at a recent Halloween event, one student dressed up as a police officer.
“The fact that kids are now seeing law enforcement as a potential career opportunity, I see that as a positive thing, because now we’re showing kids that they can actually serve their own community through law enforcement,” Martinez said.
Nestor Martinez, the police athletic league’s lead coordinator, said police hope to showcase the profession in a positive way, build meaningful relationships and encourage kids to want to become officers themselves. The police athletic league has programs across the city with a range of sports like flag football and boxing.
“For the kids, I think it gives them a more of a personal feel for the officers that shows them that they’re not just a uniform out in the public enforcing laws, they’re actually people that think and care about the community and care about their well being,” he said.
Surveys by the league found most kids’ interactions with police were negative, but once they enter the program that “immediately changes,” Martinez said.
Officer Kirk Massey patrols the north side. He grew up in the area, and he regularly attends the youth association’s basketball practices and games.
He said he hopes kids involved will feel more comfortable reaching out to him.
“If they need help, or something that they can approach one of us, and by doing these types of events it gives them a different perspective, maybe than what they see on TV or what they hear at school,” Massey said.
