Take justice knowledge into high schools | Editorials

It’s a pilot project, developed by William Perdue Jr., a special agent in the DA’s Office, and his sibling, Franchesca Perdue, who works as a spokeswoman for the office. The first session will be an introduction to the District Attorney’s Office, followed by a rotating set of speakers from the Violence Intervention Program in Albuquerque and various law enforcement agencies.

It’s both outreach and prevention, potentially. Officers who come into the schools to speak won’t wear their uniforms; that’s designed to make the encounters more open.

From the district’s perspective, the partnership is a way to address issues involving teenagers that grew out of meetings late last year. Adults had noticed more young people were becoming involved in situations with potential to ruin lives.

As The New Mexican reported in November, some 14 Santa Fe-area teens were arrested on suspicion of gun-related offenses in 2021. Rather than continue to react, school and justice leaders wanted to intervene. That’s a smart approach.

At Capital High, administrators are considering having freshmen students participate in the pilot, while Santa Fe High is thinking about opening it to sophomores or seniors. Unlike some programs that bring law enforcement personnel into the schools as enforcers, this initiative has potential to create relationships between the adults and students. The officer speaking to high schoolers isn’t there to investigate a crime. The over-the-top language of the War on Drugs, we trust, has been left behind.

Instead, a discussion at school — similar to what might happen in an English or social studies class — could lead to teens re-thinking risky behavior. Law enforcement officers might gain a better understanding of how teenagers think. Learning, after all, is a two-way street.

Maybe a student who knows that a friend has access to a gun will be encouraged to tell a trusted adult. Maybe, instead of getting behind the wheel after a party, the 17-year-old will call her parents. Maybe, too, an officer and a teenager will become acquainted and wave at each other in the park rather than avoiding an encounter.

And who knows? Introducing students to adults who make the world a better place by promoting justice could spark interest in a career in law enforcement, prosecution or criminal defense.

We long have said Santa Fe should begin recruiting potential police officers at a younger age. That means starting classes in high school to lay a foundation for a criminal justice course of study in college, with police officers from Santa Fe returning with degree in hand to serve their town.

From this pilot program, we hope more discussion occurs to see whether such a curriculum is possible. Already, local high schools offer career tracks for health care, culinary arts, auto mechanics and a number of other in-demand professions. When recruitment is competitive, growing your own is a smart alternative.

For now, the pilot program will bring young people and adults together in a relaxed setting to discuss ways to keep our community — especially teenagers — safer. That’s a solid start.