Breaking the Cycle: Youth, Gun Violence & Hope with Assistant Chief Brent Stratton Artwork

Youth Voice Amplified

Join hosts Gennessa Fisher and Brian Johnson for this youth-led and youth-focused monthly interview series as they talk with young people about their life experiences with homelessness, foster care, disabilities, teen parenting, and more. Each conversation will uncover stories of hope and strength from youth storytellers who will share the best ways we can support youth in similar situations. If you want to know how to do better for youth or simply be inspired, this is your show! Every youth has a story to tell. Are you ready to listen?

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Youth Voice Amplified

Breaking the Cycle: Youth, Gun Violence & Hope with Assistant Chief Brent Stratton

January 07, 2026 • Season 1 • Episode 39

0:00 | 1:06:38

In this powerful kickoff to 2026, Youth Voice Amplified sits down with Assistant Chief Brent Stratton of the Bakersfield Police Department for a raw and deeply hopeful conversation about how communities and the youth in them can break the cycle of gun violence.

Assistant Chief Stratton opens up about the Gun Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), a bold, multi-agency collaboration that’s already led to a dramatic drop in homicides in Bakersfield, and how it’s built on relationships, real-time response, and trusting community voice.

But that’s just part of the story. Chief Stratton also shares about Youth Connection, a grassroots prevention program that’s creating safe, meaningful opportunities for young people before they’re pulled into the justice system.

Whether you’re a young person trying to navigate difficult choices, a public servant looking for real solutions, or a community ally ready to take action, this episode delivers insight, hope, and a reminder that change is possible.

Find helpful resources mentioned in this podcast episode.

Connect with Youth Voice Amplified

If you would like to ask us a question, recommend a topic, or suggest a guest, please email us at youthvoiceamplified@gmail.com.

Credits:

Producers: Brian Johnson, Gennessa Fisher, Kim Silva and Allyson Baptiste
Production Partners: Liam Silva and Kern Education Television Network, the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office
Theme Song: “Beatitude” by Mountaineer

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00:00:01 Speaker 1

The view starts and opinions expressed on youth voice amplify it are those of the host and the guests and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the current county, Superintendent, School office. Any content provided by our guests are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion. Ethnic group, school organization.

00:00:20 Speaker 1

Company, individual or anyone or anything.

00:00:23 Speaker 2

Use voice amplified covers a wide range of topics that could be upsetting to some listeners. Concept warning for each episode, and links to resources can be found in this episode show.

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For the purposes of maintaining confidentiality, names and some identifiable characteristics of our storytellers have been changed, but their voices and their stories are real.

00:00:42 Speaker 3

When young people share their stories, they can change the world. But some youth voices still go unheard. Join me, janessa Fisher.

00:00:50 Speaker 2

And me, Brian Johnson, for this youth LED monthly interview series as Young people tell their untold stories of experiences with homelessness, foster care disabilities, team parroting and more.

00:01:00 Speaker 3

Each conversation will uncover stories of hope strength from our youth storytellers who want to share the best ways that we can all support youth in similar situations. Is there.

00:01:09 Speaker 3

If you want to know how to do better for youth or simply just be inspired, this is your show. Every youth has a story to tell. Hey everyone and welcome back to youth for simplified. The podcast where every youth is heard and every voice matters. I'm.

00:01:17 Speaker 2

Are you ready to list?

00:01:25 Speaker 2

Your host janessa, and I'm Brian. Today we're diving into a conversation that's both urgent and deeply personal.

00:01:31 Speaker 2

For many of US youth gun violence, this just isn't a national crisis. It's hitting right here in our communities, claiming their lives of young people in the age of 24 at alarming rates and behind every statistic is someone's friend, classmate, sibling or child. But this episode isn't about what's wrong, it's about what's.

00:01:47 Speaker 2

We're looking at innovative efforts happening right here in Bakersfield, CA that are focused on both intervention and prevention. These aren't just police LED strategies, they're youth centered and community powered with adults. We're listening to trusting and backing up youth who are stepping up to break the.

00:02:02 Speaker 2

Cycle of violence.

00:02:03 Speaker 3

This episode is part of our Adult Ally series. The conversations with adults who don't just work for youth but work with youth, helping create a safer future and a more hopeful community. We're joined by assistant Chief Brent Stratton of the Bakersfield Police Department and Adult Ally, who believes deeply in the power of youth.

00:02:17 Speaker 3

Place and lived experience. He's here to talk about the gun violence reduction strategy, a bold approach that has already led to a dramatic drop in homicides since 2020.

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And youth connection, a prevention program focused on mentoring youth before they are pulled into the justice system.

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We'll hear about what's working, what's hard and what kind of support young people really need to choose a different path. So let's get.

00:02:39 Speaker 2

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It now, please enjoy our conversation with Chief Stratton.

00:02:46 Speaker 3

Welcome to useless, amplified Chief Stratton. We're so glad you're here.

00:02:50 Speaker 4

Good morning. Thank you for having me. Happy to be here.

00:02:52 Speaker 2

You guys thanks for coming. So for our listeners to get to know you better, can you introduce yourself and tell?

00:02:57 Speaker 4

Us your role in the community? Sure. My name is Brent Stratton, and I'm the assistant police chief at the Bakersfield Police Department. Born and raised in Bakersfield, and I've worked at the Police Department for 21 years. So one of the things that I do, I'm responsible for our performance and analysis.

00:03:12 Speaker 4

Division, which takes a look at the data crime data as well as performance data like the amount of work that our officers do, what they're producing. I also oversee our training division, which works from.

00:03:26 Speaker 4

The application all the way through the hiring as well as the Academy training for officers and then Advanced Officer training for all of our officers throughout the the education that they have to to continue taking and and then I also have a Community engagement division which really works on building relationships within our community.

00:03:47 Speaker 4

And not necessarily as much of like responding to calls for service, but looking at problems, chronic ongoing problems and trying to figure out what we can do.

00:03:55 Speaker 4

To help solve some of those those problems in in that regard. So those are the three areas that I I currently oversee, but I've spent my entire career working at the Police Department, doing a variety of different things, from working in the gang unit to being on the SWAT team is on the SWAT team for 12 years. And I was a homicide detective and I worked in internal affairs.

00:04:16 Speaker 4

And variety of different assignments. So it's been a great career and I'm.

00:04:20 Speaker 4

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Happy to happy to be working at the Bakersfield Police Department for my my hometown department and in my hometown.

00:04:27 Speaker 2

Thank you so much for that. And we also thank you for your.

00:04:29 Speaker 3

Service as well. Yeah, you are a man of many hats. So. So our listeners get to know you better. We like to ask you an ice breaker question today is is there a movie that has made you cry with laughter?

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00:04:42 Speaker 4

Ohh my goodness. Yeah, you know that's not what I thought you were gonna go with the question. I thought you were gonna go a movie that made you cry and then cry with laughter. OK, I like it.

00:04:52 Speaker 3

Like you, you were laughing so hard, you started and your stomach hurt.

00:04:53 Speaker 4

Oh yeah, I'm tracking. I'm tracking. So it's funny because I always talk.

00:04:59 Speaker 4

Like top 10 movies and my wife's like you have like 100 movies in your top 10. So I have to break them down by genre, but pretty much anything with Will Ferrell will make me laugh until I cry. You know, I can go anywhere from Talladega nights to step brothers. You know, those are going to be some of my favorites. The other guys.

00:05:20 Speaker 4

You know, kind of getting into with Mark Wahlberg and the.

00:05:24 Speaker 4

00:05:24 Speaker 4

There it just. It makes me laugh. So anytime those ones are on, I I really. I really, really enjoy those. Those those make me laugh the most but you know, but even old school with dumb and Dumber for me is pretty good too. But but anything, anything with Will Ferrell makes me laugh. There's something about.

00:05:45 Speaker 4

Him and his style of of comedy that.

00:05:49 Speaker 3

It's just like it's just not.

00:05:49 Speaker 4

Really cracks me. He's just a goofy guy.

00:05:51 Speaker 3

I don't know if that's how it is in real life, but I mean I'm with it.

00:05:54 Speaker 4

I don't know either I'm with it as well. I really like it. So yeah, those those ones I like, say if you go if if I could watch, you know, step brothers, Talladega nights and the other guys you're going to catch me crying with laughter and and what any of those 3 movies.

00:06:10 Speaker 3

I like that you can rewatch it. I feel like sometimes when I watch a movie like I can't watch this again. But with with like the laughter and the silly.

00:06:16 Speaker 3

Goofy movies you can do.

00:06:17 Speaker 2

That, yeah, yeah. For sure. Yeah. Will Ferrell definitely has, like, rewatchable movies him out of Sandler. People like that. You can rewatch the.

00:06:23 Speaker 2

00:06:24 Speaker 2

And over games? Oh, yeah. I mean, Adam Sandler fan.

00:06:26 Speaker 4

Definitely. Yeah. That's a great question. That's a, that's a great icebreaker question. I like that.

00:06:27 Speaker 3

Thank you so much.

00:06:31 Speaker 2

One, we also like to ask our guests what does youth voice mean to you?

00:06:36 Speaker 4

What does youth voice mean to me?

00:06:39 Speaker 4

It's really awesome on what you guys are doing, like one of the one of the principles of procedural justice, which is kind of the process by which we teach our officers to make decisions. There's four components to procedural justice, but one of the the main components is voice. It's giving people the opportunity.

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When feasible, to be able to.

00:06:59 Speaker 4

To speak and say their piece to be able to listen and hear what they have to say. So I think it's really important for our youth to be able to have that same opportunity, to be able to speak and to relay what's on their hearts, what's on their mind. And for those of us.

00:07:15 Speaker 4

They're a little.

00:07:16 Speaker 4

Bit older to be able to listen and then you know to be able to say well.

00:07:20 Speaker 4

Let me give you a little bit of perspective as well as this is what I'm thinking. That's what conversation goes. And so to me, it really doesn't matter whether it's youth or younger people, middle age, older people just that's one of the basic premise. And if you can learn.

00:07:34 Speaker 4

That now, from a youth perspective, it will serve you well for the rest of your life. It will serve you well as a spouse. It will serve you well as a parent will serve you well in the workforce. It will serve you well with your friends and whoever it is. Just being able to to listen and then to be able to.

00:07:54 Speaker 4

Say what's what you're thinking, and to be able to say in a manner that's kind.

00:07:59 Speaker 4

She always be true. Speak truth as well, but you could be kind and and true. Shoot for both of those things. I think those are those are good things to be able to to relay. And so I think it's important for our our youth to be able to relay what they're thinking and and what's on their hearts and and what's on their minds and it's.

00:08:19 Speaker 4

It's coming upon us to listen first, but oftentimes we as a society and youth are a microcosm of our society the same way.

00:08:28 Speaker 4

Don't want to have the the listen part and we miss a lot of conversation and I feel that's a little bit of what's missing in our our culture as a whole in, in our country right now. So being able to do some of that, that's I think it's important skill set, but that's kind of what the youth voice means to me because there is such a great perspective that our youth are going to have on things that I.

00:08:50 Speaker 4

Never would have thought of or fresh perspective or fresh take on things, so it's important for us.

00:08:54 Speaker 2

To listen. Thank you so much. And I like how you highlighted the listening part like for our youth that's so pivotal like they feel like you know, sometimes our adult supporters aren't listening. And I love how you high.

00:09:04 Speaker 4

Yeah. Gotta. We gotta sit back and and listen here. Here. We're saying, and sometimes it's not even hearing the words that are being said. But, you know, when you can sit down with somebody and you can watch their their body language and you can see the emotion and you can see how they're feeling. You can really hear.

00:09:25 Speaker 4

What what people are saying kind of that transcends just the words that they're saying as well. So just encourage people to when you can take that time to to be able to have a conversation and listen.

00:09:36 Speaker 3

OK, you added the collaboration part and so it's like whether who, no matter who you are, it's listening is a big part as in speaking is as in we we go so fast sometimes in our lives and when we do that we sometimes miss each other in the listening. Sometimes we we are so goal focused or so focused on whatever I'm trying to say that we miss what.

00:09:56 Speaker 3

You're saying so? I like that. And then listening to the body as a whole. Like you're talking. But I see that you're very uncomfortable or I see that you're very emotional. And I see this is invoking something in you. And I can put those two things together and say, hmm, maybe this means.

00:10:08 Speaker 3

For you then what? I think it means to me.

00:10:11 Speaker 4

Nailed it. Right. And that's empathy, right? And you know, it's one thing to have compassion for other people but have empathy. You're feeling what the other person is feeling and you care enough about them. And so having some of that emotional intelligence, I think is important thing to be able to do. And often times it feels like communication if if we even wait for the other person to finish, we're just waiting for them to.

00:10:32 Speaker 4

Finish. So we can say what we want to say and that's not really listening and actively listening to what somebody.

00:10:37 Speaker 4

Saying that listening and then asking a couple questions, why do you feel that way? Or what's led to that or you know what, what's the back story that got you to that? I think it's really great questions that if you truly actually care and you truly care about the other person, you ask those questions, you going to learn a lot about them. You'll learn from the perspective where they're coming from.

00:10:59 Speaker 4

And and I'm still trying to build that discipline in my own life, right? But I've learned that when I do that, I find that we all kind of want very similar things. We certainly have different ideas about how to get there, but we kind of want the same stuff.

00:11:16 Speaker 4

So I think recognizing some of that is is important. So I think it's good for our youth to be able to.

00:11:23 Speaker 4

To have that voice, and that their voice matters, and to be able to to have their their voice out there. But but to me that's not a period full stop, that's a comma.

00:11:33 Speaker 4

And after and then.

00:11:35 Speaker 4

Heavy voice. And then listen. Give someone else that voice.

00:11:38 Speaker 3

As well, so I'd like to make the shift to the conversation that a lot of young people in Bakersfield are impacted.

00:11:44 Speaker 3

Right. And that is gun violence. Like many cities, Bakersfield has been working to address this issue, especially as it affects our younger age of 18 under 18. I mean under 20.

00:11:53 Speaker 3

Or I'm sorry, one of the strategies that the city has implemented is called the gun violence reduction strategy, or GV Rs. Can you tell us a little bit about how?

00:12:03 Speaker 3

That came to Bakersfield.

00:12:04 Speaker 4

Yes. So like I talked about a little bit in my introduction. I spent my big portions and some of the favorite parts of my career working in our our gang unit. And oftentimes it's really focused on reducing gun violence. And I spent some time as a homicide detective.

00:12:24 Speaker 4

And, you know, growing up, my dad was a cop, and he was a homicide detective for almost 20 years. So, like, growing up, when I would think of police officers, I never really saw my dad and a police officer uniform. I always saw him in, like, a shirt and tie. Like the detectives that you see on TV. And that's what I think of. And that's what I always wanted to to do and to be.

00:12:44 Speaker 4

And so. But I've never really thought of anything beyond, hey, somebody shoot somebody. We go and try to find the guy that's shooting them and put and put them in.

00:12:55 Speaker 4

In jail or if this person is running around with an illegal gun because they think they're going to go shoot somebody to try to prevent that from occurring in the 1st place. And there's really more to it than that. There's an an actual strategy and we go owe a lot of credit to our city manager, Mr. Christian Clegg. And he's worked on gun violence reduction strategies.

00:13:16 Speaker 4

And studied what's happening across the country and when he got hired by the city of Bakersfield, that was one of his his number one, not one of his priorities. It was his number one.

00:13:25 Speaker 4

Priority was to reduce gun violence in the city of Bakersfield. So what we saw in the years preceding as we saw that, you know, our city was growing, but so will the number of of incidents involving guns and number of shootings that were occurring. It was growing year after year after year and we got to a point where we had 60 homicides.

00:13:47 Speaker 4

Just within the city of Baku.

00:13:48 Speaker 4

00:13:49 Speaker 4

And so we really wanted to see what can we do to try to prevent these things from from occurring in the 1st place. And so we've studied a variety of different cities and things that are working and kind of taking best practices, things that work really well there, ripping it from them, stealing it from applying it in our own city and then.

00:14:09 Speaker 4

Working to see whether we can see or.

00:14:10 Speaker 4

Direction and we've seen big reductions on the first year we saw 33% reduction and then another 33% reduction and then about a 5% reduction. And this year we're going to start to see a slight increase. We're probably going to have about a 5% increase back from last year, but it's still significantly lower for when we started this.

00:14:30 Speaker 4

Program and there's really multi it's a multi pronged program for those that are pulling out guns and shooting people, there's really no intervention work where we're really focused on identifying them, apprehending them and they have to be accountable for their acts.

00:14:44 Speaker 4

Options, but what has really changed for it is when we receive information of somebody that we believe is at risk of being a victim of gun violence, we really want to work with our Community to go and meet these people where they are and try to offer them a different path in life. For instance, a person who has been shot.

00:15:04 Speaker 4

Is 40% more likely to go in and retaliate to do a retaliation shooting?

00:15:10 Speaker 4

So when they've been shot, they're there in the hospital, that's when they need to hear from our community. That's when, you know, the Police Department needs to be there. But we work with a variety of different community groups that have often times have a lived experience working in this in, in this type of work. And they will go and meet these people and meet with their families with their mothers.

00:15:31 Speaker 4

Whatever it is, and figure out where are you in life. What can I do to help you? Let me help. This is the time. Let's talk about school. Let's talk about job training. Let's talk about finding a place to stay. Let's talk about any of these things that we can do to move them off.

00:15:44 Speaker 4

The path of retaliation and making a different choice in life. So that's been one of the things that's really.

00:15:50 Speaker 4

00:15:51 Speaker 4

Another times that we found is not only are.

00:15:56 Speaker 4

So when when I was telling to a person who's physically been shot is 40% more likely to retaliate, that person's close friends are also very likely to go and retaliate. So we're going to talk to to their.

00:16:07 Speaker 4

Or other times we'll hear information that may be a certain a certain group is after somebody else from another group. We want to go and talk to the person that we think is potentially going to be the victim and work on. Can we make some life changes for them and and remove that opportunity? And oftentimes we hear from from the group that is looking to do the shooting.

00:16:26 Speaker 4

We, we might hear who's possibly looking to go and commit that shooting, and we can go and sit down with them often times too and say, look, nothing's happened yet. You've not made any these bad choices yet.

00:16:39 Speaker 4

I don't want to see this happen to you. I don't want to see you make these these bad decisions. I don't want to see you go to to jail for a long time. I don't want to see anything happen. Where you yourself could be killed. I care about you and I don't want to see this happen to you. So let's make some different choices.

00:16:59 Speaker 4

And then I tell them also.

00:17:01 Speaker 4

If, though, you you do decide to do this, I want you to know that we know who you are, and we're going to hold you responsible for for that. If we can prove that you're involved in this and it's not, and it said in a threatening way or anything like that, it's just kind of talked about procedural justice in a very respectful, neutral way.

00:17:22 Speaker 4

But it lets those that are going to be the offenders know that I'm looking at.

00:17:28 Speaker 4

And I'm hoping that that is enough to move them off of the path of retaliation, and then those that are potential victims meeting with them to try to help them make some life choices, choices to move them off the path as well. And so when these community groups go and meet with these young men and they're primarily young men, it's the idea is to.

00:17:49 Speaker 4

Offer them mentoring and they're checking in with them and.

00:17:52 Speaker 4

00:17:53 Speaker 4

You know, every week and every day and sending them texts and meeting with them and try to come get them down to the center and see where they can get them involved in other events or other things than other life skills to show them a different path. When we've done that, it has been wildly successful in reducing the amount.

00:18:09 Speaker 4

Of homicides that we've.

00:18:11 Speaker 4

Had and the amount of shootings that we've had. So there's been a tremendous amount of lives that have been saved. And on the flip side of that, generally the Police Department does a pretty good job. We clear about 70 to 80% of every one of these homicides that occur. So you're you're changing 2 lives. You're saving a life, a life that isn't being killed, and 70% of the time we're able to identify who the suspect is.

00:18:31 Speaker 4

And they're not going to prison for the rest of their life. So there is real lives are being saved as we've worked on this, we've been working with.

00:18:40 Speaker 4

Criminologist and professors at colleges who study this kind of stuff to be able to look at this and and the data tells us that most of the time the the victims and the suspects and these things are going to be young men in about the 18 to 24 year old age range. And that's really where I want to impact that.

00:19:01 Speaker 4

And so it's also.

00:19:02 Speaker 4

How to start looking at things? There's intervention work.

00:19:05 Speaker 4

And then there's prevention work and prevention is.

00:19:10 Speaker 4

Preventing this 18 year old from ever getting to the spot where they want to pick up a gun in the 1st place. There going to be a victim in the 1st place and if I want to help somebody when they're 18 by that part, I really probably need to start talking to.

00:19:20 Speaker 4

Them at the 131415 year you're.

00:19:24 Speaker 4

Age range. And so when we look at things like the police Activities League and working with other community based organizations like Youth Connection and what can we do to try to offer resources and stuff and things and education to help in those formative years.

00:19:43 Speaker 4

That hopefully reduces the likelihood of them making you know bad decisions in that 18 to 24 year age range because you see that that 18 to 24 year age range, there's life altering decisions that can be made. So if I can help get them through that, it's increasing the chance that they're going to lead this productive happy normal.

00:20:03 Speaker 4

Life and be able to live in the years after that. So in a nutshell, that's a little bit about what the gun violence reduction strategy is.

00:20:12 Speaker 2

Thank you so much for that. That was.

00:20:13 Speaker 2

Like a lot to take, there's a lot. There's.

00:20:15 Speaker 4

A lot there. This is very I'm I'm I'm synthesizing like years and years worth of work and nationwide best practices and trying to give you a a a couple minute answer.

00:20:26 Speaker 2

And then also like I noticed you mentioned the prevention aspect of it and then you'd connection. Can you dive in a little bit more?

00:20:32 Speaker 2

Well, your role with youth connection and how that helps with prevention services.

00:20:36 Speaker 4

Sure. So youth.

00:20:37 Speaker 4

Connection is a local, nonprofit organization, and it is made-up of all volunteers, and we work to identify kids that we believe are at risk of falling into the juvenile justice.

00:20:51 Speaker 4

00:20:52 Speaker 4

The idea is if.

00:20:53 Speaker 4

We can keep them out of the juvenile justice system. They're less likely to fall into the adult justice system, and if we can keep them out of the adult justice system, it's just less hurdles and less roadblocks for them and and increases the chances of them leading a successful life now.

00:21:08 Speaker 4

If you've entered the juvenile justice system, or if you've entered the adult justice system, I know plenty of people that have still gone on.

00:21:16 Speaker 4

Correct their lives and be great productive lives, but I think many of them would tell you if I didn't have to go through this route, life life might have been a little.

00:21:24 Speaker 4

Bit easier for me. So we worked to.

00:21:27 Speaker 4

Identify things that kids might be interested in that maybe their families might not be able to provide for them, and so we have people that do sewing.

00:21:35 Speaker 4

And cheerleading and karate and softball, baseball, football, basketball. Tutoring banned whatever it is we fund that for them.

00:21:47 Speaker 4

So that way they have positive things that they can, they can do just as an additional outlet. And so that's what youth connection does exists just to create opportunity for kids to try to do something different. And so I volunteer as that and I've been on that board for probably close to 10 years and I've been the.

00:22:08 Speaker 4

I've been the president now for probably the last four to five.

So that's. But that's just one of.

00:22:13 Speaker 4

Many organizations that are out there, the boys and Girls Club, does some great work in that regard. The Bakersfield Police Activities League, the Kern County Sheriff's Office has an activities lead.

00:22:22 Speaker 4

As well, and they're just safe places for kids to go after school to be able to do, you know, sports and tutoring get a snack in some place. Just again, safe and positive for for them to to be able to go and to to hopefully get shown at a different path.

00:22:43 Speaker 4

So I think that the prevention piece is really important. And then there's the intervention piece which we talked about is also trying to intervene when we think violence is going to occur. And that was where I was talking about.

00:22:58 Speaker 4

Meeting maybe with.

00:22:58 Speaker 4

With potential suspects or potential victims or confirmed victims.

00:23:04 Speaker 4

And then there's the enforcement piece. And that's really after a shooting or something like that has happened. That's detectives investigating the gang making apprehension. Those type of things. And that's the enforcement side. And and at that point, you know, intervention and prevention, it's too late for it's too late for that stuff. And that's going to be a person that's going to have to have to.

00:23:24 Speaker 4

To go to jail, go to prison for a while and hopefully they by the time they come out can make some different life changes to to lead a productive life on on the outside and come when coming back in as they reintegrate back into our our our community.

00:23:37 Speaker 3

What has been the biggest challenge so far and how has BPD and the Community partners overcome it?

00:23:46 Speaker 4

Yeah. The the biggest challenge was.

00:23:50 Speaker 4

There's lots of challenges in this type of work. I would say some of the biggest ones are is is you want to see success, how and and we need to reduce the amount of of.

00:24:03 Speaker 4

People who are being shot and killed, quite frankly, and the amount of shootings that were occurring. So that's the number one biggest challenges we need to save lives and.

00:24:15 Speaker 4

Thank God, you know, four years later, we've done that.

00:24:20 Speaker 4

We've also worked with.

00:24:23 Speaker 4

Some really smart people who are numbers, people who looked at every one of our shootings.

00:24:30 Speaker 4

And built out how much it cost the taxpayers when the shooting occurs from the amount of officers that have to respond, the detectives that do the follow up work to the emergency responders that come to transport, somebody being an ambulance and go to a hospital and nurses and doctors and surgeons.

00:24:50 Speaker 4

When somebody's arrested, they get booked into the jail and there's detentions, deputies and correctional officers that are walking, watching them when they go into court, there's judges and prosecutors and defense attorneys. And then when somebody sentenced to prison, they're sentenced to prison. When you shoot somebody, you go for a long time. So they're housed in.

00:25:06 Speaker 4

00:25:07 Speaker 4

Medical care and food and all these things, when you add it all.

00:25:11 Speaker 4

00:25:12 Speaker 4

The cost of every homicide cost about $2,000,000.

00:25:17 Speaker 4

That's not to mention the irreparable damage to a family who's lost somebody that they loved. So whenever you can reduce a homicide by one, you're talking about saving $2,000,000 well.

00:25:33 Speaker 4

00:25:34 Speaker 4

00:25:36 Speaker 4

26 homicides. OK. That is a significant reduction from the 60 when we started this, right?

00:25:46 Speaker 4

So I'm looking at this. Do the math thing and the pressure is on. What does that mean? 34 homicides ultimately that were reduced, so $68 million, but 34 lives that are saved and those 34 people?

00:26:07 Speaker 4

For their lives to be taken, somebody else has to.

00:26:09 Speaker 4

Make them so you're losing 34 people, and then there's 34 people that are responsible for this, that are going to be going to, to jail or prison. So you changed 68 lives, not to mention the families, the loved ones, the mothers, the fathers and brothers, the children that lose people in their life. So that was been the biggest thing is we needed to.

00:26:32 Speaker 4

We needed to to save lives. It's been the biggest challenge. I would say that an additional challenge is that like any program, it costs money to make a program work right. You pay people there for their time, their salaries to do that stuff, but that's money, is that it's limited. You only have a limited amount of it.

00:26:52 Speaker 4

So you're trying to decide where am I going to use the money?

00:26:55 Speaker 4

And so finding the money to to kind of to start a new program is always challenge. But thankfully we we did get funding from our state and thankfully we had money from our city to invest in that. So that was been a.

00:27:08 Speaker 4

Challenge it's also a challenge.

00:27:10 Speaker 4

To any time like the Police Department is going out and working with the community and the community.

00:27:16 Speaker 4

Working with the Police Department, there is always relationships that have to be built. So I look at four or five years later and I think how fantastic the relationships are with the community based organizations who are going out and doing this work.

00:27:28 Speaker 4

But it was really hard at first to everybody to to trust each other and to realize we want the same thing, but we're going to go about it a little bit differently. So building some of those relationships within our community has been hard as well. But I know we're better city.

00:27:47 Speaker 4

For it, and there's better relationships for it than than than we ever had before. So those have been some of them. The main challenges I would say is making sure you're saving the lives, finding the dollars to do it, and then building the relationships to.

00:28:01 Speaker 4

Be able to make it happen.

00:28:04 Speaker 2

And with the relationship aspect within the community, like how I know some people may be hesitant at first, but how do you guys go about building those relationships with the community, setting the foundation?

00:28:13 Speaker 4

Of trust. Sure. Yeah. Great question. So it starts initially by we have a meeting every week and every week myself or.

00:28:24 Speaker 4

Or other folks, there's a handful of other people that are really involved in in leading the work, and then there's a really big other group of people that are. They're actually doing the work, but those that are leading the work would start off with a meeting every week and we would start in.

00:28:39 Speaker 4

And say, here's here's the information that we have. Here's the shootings that we've had. Here's who our victims are and just showing up every week and saying, OK.

00:28:49 Speaker 4

We would like for you guys to go and contact these these these victims over here and offer these resources. And then sometimes they would they would call, they would just start to get to the point where they go, hey, I I need I need this. Are you able to do that? Yes. We can take care of that. And it was just.

00:29:06 Speaker 4

It just started by sitting in the same room together, right? And then it was OK. I think when they can see over time ever that you're there every week and that you care that this is a priority and that your professional about it and you know what you're talking about and you listen as well and they see that you care about these type of things then.

00:29:27 Speaker 4

They're there because they care as well, right? They're doing this work because.

00:29:31 Speaker 4

They're not doing it to get rich. They're not getting rich off of their work. They're doing it to make a difference.

00:29:36 Speaker 4

So when they see that.

00:29:37 Speaker 4

We kind of go back to my intro to more time. We want the same things, how we're going to go about doing it might be a little bit different, but that stuff comes by just sitting in the same room and talking. You start to see that.

00:29:50 Speaker 4

Rank goes away and names are there, and you're calling each other by your first name and you're there. And then I think sometimes it's really important to eat together.

00:30:00 Speaker 4

Maybe as dumb as that sounds, but I think when you have food there and everybody, you eat lunch together or you might eat dinner together, even if you're just having a snack together and you're sitting there and you're talking about life and you start knowing somebody's first name and you know a little bit about their, maybe even ask questions about their family. And there's one guy that used to come into the meeting.

00:30:21 Speaker 4

The time I could tell you a little standoffish and he had a baseball hat on and I noticed every week he had on a different baseball hat. I love baseball, so he'd come into the room.

00:30:29 Speaker 4

And I'd remark about his baseball hat and then make it you ask a question. They're just trying to find ways to find common ground and build relationship that we're on the same team. We're working together. We're attacking this from a different different.

00:30:44 Speaker 4

Point of view, but just building.

00:30:47 Speaker 4

Building relationship the building community right? So I think those are.

00:30:54 Speaker 4

Some of the ways that you gotta really work on just trying to build relation like you would anybody else, any other coworker, or somebody in your family or friend, whoever it is, the relationship is the same. It's it's the human condition. It's people still when it's all, when it's all said.

00:31:10 Speaker 2

And done on a more positive note as well, what has been the biggest?

00:31:15 Speaker 4

Saving lives, hands down, saving lives. The amount of lives saved and and reducing the amount of people that have had to have their lives changed by going to prison has been the absolute benefit. I think they're the an additional benefit is that we're building a stronger community as well, right?

00:31:35 Speaker 4

Groups that traditionally hadn't worked together and hadn't worked with the Police Department. I think there are people that walk into that conference room and sit down and have a meeting with me.

00:31:45 Speaker 4

And other people at the BPD, it's not just me that if you'd ask them five years ago, do you think you'd be working with the Police Department? They'd be like, no way. And me included, right. Because there's some guys that are work doing this work that back when.

00:31:59 Speaker 4

00:31:59 Speaker 4

00:32:01 Speaker 4

They were gang members, right? And they've grown up, they've.

00:32:04 Speaker 4

Made life changes.

00:32:05 Speaker 4

And if you'd asked me five years ago, do you think you'd be sitting in a conference room at City Hall with some of these guys working together? But, like, no way, you know? And so it's been.

00:32:19 Speaker 4

Encouraging that doesn't feel like a strong enough word inspiring to me to see that as well, and it reinforces in me compassion and empathy and hope and the recognition that people might make bad decisions when they're younger. But it doesn't mean they can't work past it and grow.

00:32:41 Speaker 4

Pass it as they get older, but there's some.

00:32:46 Speaker 4

There's some people that I count as personal friends in this work that never in my life would I have thought these people would be my friends and I guarantee you I guarantee you them thought they would ever be friends with me. Right? And.

00:33:06 Speaker 4

I know there's.

00:33:06 Speaker 4

There's one guy that calls and he called. He'll chuckle sometimes. He goes. Man, I never thought I'd be texting or talking on the phone with the assistant police chief, and it's just what he does or any cop for that matter, you know? But it's just we're working on the same thing. So it's been.

00:33:24 Speaker 4

Hands down the the the the relationships that we've built and the friendships and just the positive coworkers work on the same stuff and like the building building community, making the city of Bakersfield a better place than it was the day before.

00:33:41 Speaker 4

00:33:43 Speaker 2

I love that and I love the importance of the community and how you kind of when it comes to kind of everyone wanting the same thing that all the titles, all that kind of stuff, just kind of goes away and you guys are focused on one goal and that's really the most important part about community is all you guys working towards the same thing.

00:34:00 Speaker 3

I think collaboration is a big part of it too, is because we we've travelled a lot and we've gone to a lot of places and we've seen where they're not collaborating where it's like, wait, problem, why don't you just collaborate with your well, we don't work well together. There's some barrier right there. But here in Bakersfield, I feel like it's a different type of community because we at the end of the day like like Brand said, we are focused on the goal and if if someone so can break that barrier.

00:34:21 Speaker 3

And then we need to reach out to that and we need to collaborate with each other. So I think that's the beautiful part about Bakersfield is that we.

00:34:23 Speaker 4

00:34:28 Speaker 3

Web rate, no matter what agency, no matter what title, like anything that's happening is like if you need a barrier broken. And I have the answer, I'm willing to.

00:34:36 Speaker 3

00:34:37 Speaker 4

For sure. Right. And and think about that for a second. Where does that?

00:34:40 Speaker 4

00:34:42 Speaker 4

I do believe it's special to our community. We're not the only place that does it, and we're not the only place capable of doing it.

00:34:49 Speaker 4

But one of our biggest assets that we have here.

00:34:54 Speaker 4

Is that we live where we work and I think that matters. If you believe in community policing, which I do. And if you believe in community, which I do.

00:35:05 Speaker 4

You look at what makes it successful.

00:35:08 Speaker 4

I live here. I'm from here. I've choosed to raise my family here. I hang out here. I spend my dollars here. I shop here. My kids go to school. Here I go to church. Here like this is where I hang out. And it's where I live. And it's also where I work. That's not always the case in other cities.

00:35:28 Speaker 4

People either if you work for that city, you either might not be able to afford to live where you work, or in cases of other higher crime areas, they might not want to live where they work.

00:35:42 Speaker 4

But here this is home. And so we do have these relationships, the fact that I'm sitting here talking to you guys is the product of a relationship, right? It's a relationship that the Bakersfield Police Department has with the current county Superintendent of schools. OK, that's great. Those are two organizations.

00:36:01 Speaker 4

Though there are people that work in these organizations, though, that we pick up a phone and call somebody else and go, hey, I'm working on this through youth connection. I volunteer with two people from current Superintendent of schools are on that board and so.

00:36:15 Speaker 4

It's like, hey, we're we're doing.

00:36:17 Speaker 4

This program right over here, would you come and talk about it? Sure. Want to talk about it? Somebody else is in the room.

00:36:22 Speaker 4

Hey, you should hear about this podcast and what we're doing over.

00:36:26 Speaker 4

Here these are.

00:36:27 Speaker 4

This is a product of people talking to people, building relationships that and that's how we ended up here. So this collab.

00:36:32 Speaker 4

Duration 100% has to happen is very natural for us to be siloed, to think about the work that we have to do and to be contained with the work that we have to do. But I think from a leadership standpoint, look up and look out and look at finding ways that I can collaborate. Let's not worry about competition. Let's worry about how we can collaborate if we can collaborate and you can do well.

00:36:53 Speaker 4

There will be no competition. There's nobody who's going to be able to compete with you if you can build these relationships, if you can work things forward. If you can get results, and if you can.

00:37:03 Speaker 4

Be responsible about it.

00:37:05 Speaker 4

The competition goes away. You were going to be just you be successful. It's a difference between being, you know, a riser and a climber. Don't have to be a climber. Climber means you have to step on people to get to where you're going to go. You don't need to step on anybody if you're good and you're doing these things, you're going to rise and you're going to go and going to go above the competition anyways. So focus on that.

00:37:26 Speaker 4

That collaboration.

00:37:28 Speaker 4

Focus on relationships. Identify what exactly it is that you're trying to achieve, and then develop a plan to be able to work through there and identify people that can work with you along the way to to be able to do that. And I think you'll end up successful that to me, that's the recipe in whatever it is that you're doing, whether it's a gun violence reduction strategy.

00:37:47 Speaker 4

Whether it's a podcast, whether it's your business, however, is you want to do it. That's what. To me, that's that's how you end up with success.

00:37:55 Speaker 3

I like that riser versus timer. That was that was interesting. I've never heard.

00:37:59 Speaker 3

00:38:00 Speaker 2

That was a definitely a wonderful like analogy for that. Like you said, competition and people kind of stepping over just to just to kind of get, get, get ahead. But if they kind of just.

00:38:06 Speaker 4

00:38:11 Speaker 2

Take it down and collaborate. There'll be no there'll be no competition like you don't want to see someone getting over or you try and get over them. It'll just be that same genuine feeling and be authentic.

00:38:22 Speaker 4

Yeah, yeah, you're you're helping. You're helping people. Like I said, you don't have to. It doesn't have to be a 0 sum game. And by that, what it means is you don't have to wipe them out.

00:38:31 Speaker 4

For you to be better for you to win this thing, there is a way for you to be able to work with them. Help bring them along.

00:38:38 Speaker 4

And you still end up winning this thing, right? This is there's there's ways to to be able to do this and and.

00:38:46 Speaker 4

And almost 100% of the things that we're doing work wise, right, but most of these things are not, they're not mutually exclusive. You can both things can be true, you can collaborate and you can still win.

00:39:00 Speaker 3

Earlier you mentioned that you were served as the President of the Youth Connection Board, which focuses on reaching youth.

00:39:05 Speaker 4

00:39:07 Speaker 3

Before they enter the juvenile justice system, can you tell us a little bit about why you got involved and how the program uses youth voice and mentorship to help young people stay on a positive path?

00:39:17 Speaker 4

00:39:21 Speaker 4

The program is about.

00:39:24 Speaker 4

30 years old and and it started really just trying to find ways to positively impact the lives of kids and make their lives better and realize that some kids have some real challenges in their in their lives and when they're growing up and what are the things that we might be able to do to help some of these kids? It doesn't have a very big.

00:39:45 Speaker 4

Budget it's not a very big organization.

00:39:47 Speaker 4

And there's so many people that are out there, we can't help all the kids with everything we're like, this is going to be we're gonna be about this narrow right here. We're going to try to.

00:39:55 Speaker 4

Help these kids.

00:39:56 Speaker 4

In this area and we've built our board off of people who are involved in the community and care about our youth and care about trying to help them.

00:40:07 Speaker 4

Have a little bit of a a better shot at life.

00:40:10 Speaker 4

And so I heard about this organization a long time ago. And then I kind of watched from afar. I said I asked if I could volunteer and being involved with it because I was just really impressed with the work that they do. And so I began volunteering.

00:40:27 Speaker 4

And just like organizations do people come and go? You know, people retire and people move away. And these type of things.

00:40:32 Speaker 4

And blinked and somehow or another. I I was leading this thing. And and really it's a privilege because there's so many great people on our board that all come from a variety of different professional backgrounds, and they do different stuff. But the one thing that unifies all of us is that we all want to make our community.

00:40:55 Speaker 4

Better, and we all want to focus on on youth, to be able to do that. So it's a real privilege to to be on on that board, but we've got.

00:41:04 Speaker 4

People from the Police Department, the Sheriff's Department from the probation department. We have people from Department of Human Services. We have people from current Superintendent of schools. We have people who are retired and and volunteer their time. So there's a real mix of of folks that are on this.

00:41:26 Speaker 4

This board, where people in the media world who are part of it as well. And so it is.

00:41:34 Speaker 4

Just a a great organization and it's it's it's a privilege to to be able to do it, try to help make the lives of kids in our community just a little bit better, hopefully.

00:41:44 Speaker 2

I love that and also with I know there's other programs that have served their own purpose and all those other kind of things. But what's the what's so different about youth connection compared to other prevention?

00:41:55 Speaker 4

Yeah. So I will say one of the things that's different is.

00:41:58 Speaker 4

That we're not a provider, right? We.

00:42:00 Speaker 2

00:42:01 Speaker 4

We don't do any of these services like we don't coach football, we don't coach baseball, we really just connect kids to places that do. And so we, you know, I think I mentioned a little earlier.

00:42:14 Speaker 4

We have some people that do sewing and some that do cheerleading and some that do basketball and football and boxing and soccer and band and tutoring.

00:42:23 Speaker 4

And so I can't provide all of those things. And I can go and try to find somebody and hire them to provide those type of things. But those are resources that already exist in our community. I don't need to go be in competition with the person to open up a new karate school. I need to go support their karate school and say, hey, I've got this kid here. I want to be able to pay for that.

00:42:43 Speaker 4

This person to be able to come towards that. That's a partnership. It's collaboration like we talked about within our.

00:42:48 Speaker 4

Community and then we can connect those kids to those resources. So whenever somebody hears about a kid that might need something, they can refer them to us and then we can evaluate, yes, we're able to help. Yes, we have the money to be able to help. Yes, it kind of meets the area of the type of kid that we're trying to focus on. And then we connect them to other resources.

00:43:08 Speaker 4

Within our community.

00:43:09 Speaker 4

So I would love to be like the boys and Girls Club or like the Police Activities League, the Share Activities League and have a big building where we're providing these type of things. That's just not where we are. So we're in a spot where we're a little bit different and that we're not providing these these services physically. We're connecting kids to to these resources and hopefully just.

00:43:31 Speaker 4

Providing them an opportunity to to.

00:43:34 Speaker 4

Hopefully find a different path in life.

00:43:37 Speaker 2

But that was definitely authentic, like collaboration. Like you guys is literally youth connection. You're connecting them to other resources in the community like you don't need to build another one. We're going to implement you and put you in this program where we don't have to make a new one. So I love that.

00:43:44 Speaker 4

That's right. That's right.

00:43:50 Speaker 4

00:43:52 Speaker 3

I think not only are you connecting them to something they might enjoy, but you might also be connecting to the future career people that choose to surround themselves in like they might make friends here, and those friends will go on to be one of their best friends. Or maybe they thought they liked this and they tried this and now this is their career because they found a love of doing something like that.

00:44:02 Speaker 4

00:44:10 Speaker 4

That's our hope. That's our hope is just to introduce them to a variety of different things, right.

00:44:16 Speaker 4

And hopefully something there sticks right? I can't. We'll never be able to say youth connection is the difference maker in somebody's life. We're going to say we're one prong and we want to provide some opportunity that hopefully is just one of the things that they take and it it's one of many things, right, because they're going to have teachers in their lives are going to have hopefully have.

00:44:36 Speaker 4

Parents, in some cases their grandparents or somebody that's a guardian, that's whoever.

00:44:41 Speaker 4

Is it's helping to try to get them to these events and helping to hopefully build some relationship there and so we just want to try to create opportunity. It's the best that we can we can hope.

00:44:51 Speaker 2

For what's the moment? Our story from you connection that reminds you that this work matters?

00:44:59 Speaker 4

You know, we have a, our new program was not that new anymore. Our program coordinator has been with us for probably the last two years and his name is Wes Davis, the 3rd and West as a phenomenal job. And Wes?

00:45:16 Speaker 4

Picks a different kid every month that we help and has asked one of their their.

00:45:22 Speaker 4

00:45:23 Speaker 4

To write something about what you've connection is funding their kid to doing what? Whatever their their kid is interested in whatever we're funding, it might be football, basketball, whatever these events are and every month.

00:45:36 Speaker 4

00:45:38 Speaker 4

A letter from one of the parents and I see a picture of the parent will take a picture of the kid and whatever it is they're doing and says this is what youth connection is funding. This is what the kid is doing. This is the difference that it's made in the kids life. It's always.

00:45:57 Speaker 4

It's it's always rewarding and it just reminds me of the importance of the work that we're doing.

00:46:04 Speaker 4

I also recognize that Bakersfield is a big city. It might not feel like it, but it's the 9th largest city in the state, right? And there's a lot of people here. There's a lot of kids with a lot of need and you know, we.

00:46:20 Speaker 4

Are constantly fundraising and it's hard to find the dollars right. We don't have a budget where, hey, on July 1st you magically have money that comes from the government or anything we have to. We're writing grants and we're doing fundraising and we're reliant on a lot of different things.

00:46:36 Speaker 4

Thing. So it's always a challenge to make sure that we have the funds to help be able to support support kids. There's there's some challenges, but every month seeing the that.

00:46:50 Speaker 4

One family highlight is always a good reminder for me of the of the work that's being done and how important it is to to make time to do it and to try to.

00:47:00 Speaker 4

Give it our best.

00:47:02 Speaker 2

I love how you guys prioritize having these programs like you mentioned, like funding is kind of tough sometimes for have these programs to go on so long it shows you guys really prioritize these things. So I just want to thank you guys.

00:47:13 Speaker 4

For putting that effort in our community for saying that, we've got a great, great board, we've got some people that are really fantastic.

00:47:22 Speaker 4

My name is Ian Anderson writes grants for.

00:47:25 Speaker 4

And then we have others that are constantly working on fundraising. And it's, I mean, there's just everything we're doing to try to try to create the dollars to help be able to make.

00:47:35 Speaker 3

Things better. So some of our listeners are listening right now and want to know how to fundraise. How.

00:47:40 Speaker 3

How do we direct?

00:47:41 Speaker 4

Them towards you. Yeah. We would take a 501-C.

00:47:45 Speaker 4

Three, which means we are a legitimate nonprofit through the the IRS, which means that your gifts are tax deductible. So you can go to our website at Youth Connection Kern dot.

00:47:59 Speaker 4

Com. You can find us on Instagram as well and we have the ability to accept donations through the on the online website platform as well as via our social media. And you know we we can always use the dollars we don't have. We have one I was mentioning.

00:48:19 Speaker 4

But a program coordinator.

00:48:21 Speaker 4

That he works for us part time. But we don't have a building. We don't have any of those things. So our costs are very low, which means that all of our dollars that we raise go to our they go to our kids, they're not going to our salaries because we're not, we're all volunteer. So you know that that the money that you raise is going to go to kids.

00:48:43 Speaker 4

And they're gonna go to kids in, in our community.

00:48:47 Speaker 3

Based on your experience in law enforcement and as a part of the Youth Connection Board, what can schools, community groups and agencies do better to support?

00:48:56 Speaker 4

00:49:00 Speaker 4

I would say that a big portion of it is is the collaboration, right, when you seeing you recognize that there is somebody?

00:49:10 Speaker 4

Maybe a youth who is.

00:49:12 Speaker 4

At risk of either being a victim or.

00:49:16 Speaker 4

A contributor to gun violence, let's try to work through that. Let's try to work through it before we, before we have to get to the enforcement piece, let's look at the intervention piece. Let's look at the prevention piece. What are things we might be able to to do to help move them off of that path? Reach out to me. Reach out to anybody within.

00:49:36 Speaker 4

The Police Department that might be able to tell you about the gun violence reduction program that we have here reach out via youth connection to see are there things that that we can try to do to tell there's no one-size-fits-all approach there's not. You know this always works all the time. Everybody comes from a different background they have.

00:49:56 Speaker 4

Different issues that they're facing. So are there things that we can do that are unique and specific to this one person to help be able to to reach them. So I would say you have to recognize it.

00:50:08 Speaker 4

First you have to be able to communicate that and know where to come on to, to collaborate, and then let's see if we can work to try to to make a.

00:50:16 Speaker 2

Difference in someones life liking everything on like the haystack, but so I'm gonna just skip ahead looking at everything you've been a part of. What partnerships have made the biggest difference in reducing gun violence in Bakersfield and?

00:50:20 Speaker 3

00:50:21 Speaker 3

00:50:28 Speaker 2

00:50:29 Speaker 4

Yes. So the working with the Police Department and even within our Police Department, right. Our gang unit has to work with our homicide detectives. We have to work with our crime analysts and.

00:50:40 Speaker 4

00:50:41 Speaker 4

Lot of work that happens within the Police Department, but.

00:50:45 Speaker 4

That really focuses on the enforcement piece.

00:50:49 Speaker 4

When you start talking about.

00:50:52 Speaker 4

Intervention. We are working with a variety of different community based organizations.

00:50:58 Speaker 4

We're working with the the Wendell Davis Foundation and Compassion Christian Center. We work with garden pathways. We're working with Community Action parts.

00:51:08 Speaker 4

Worship Kern. We're working with. Stay focused and so and there's others that I know that that I'm missing as well. But it takes all these different community organizations partnering together to be able to work through this even within the city, within the city of Baku and.

00:51:28 Speaker 4

All this stuff.

00:51:29 Speaker 4

Would happen without the the leadership from our city manager who was really had the vision and the passion for this type of work. We've needed funding from the state within.

00:51:40 Speaker 4

We need people who this is the work that they do. There's analysts that work in City Hall that they focus strictly on and supporting this type of work as well. You know, it has taken so many different people, it's taken our City Council to say yes. So we'll work on the funding for this. We'll make sure that this is a priority.

00:52:00 Speaker 4

There are. There are so many hands that are involved in this type of work and this what it really takes. It really takes it being an organization.

00:52:08 Speaker 4

Priority and it takes a collaborative approach, a community building approach to be able to make all these things work. It is a lot of moving parts that goes into making it it successful, but those are some of the the people and organizations that are involved to make it make it.

00:52:25 Speaker 4

00:52:26 Speaker 2

It's like everyone being part of that engine.

00:52:28 Speaker 2

To keep it running that takes everyone has their own piece, but to keep it.

00:52:29 Speaker 1

00:52:32 Speaker 2

And everyone has to do their part.

00:52:34 Speaker 4

There's an analogy I use for it to spokes in a wheel right? No, no one spoke is any more important than any other spoke, but you start taking some of those spokes out. That wheel isn't going to be supported, and that wheel isn't going to go anywhere, so we're all just spokes in a wheel working to to bring it together. There's some that might have more forward facing roles than others.

00:52:53 Speaker 4

00:52:55 Speaker 4

We're all spokes in in this wheel, and it's a collaborative approach.

00:53:00 Speaker 3

As we wrap up the episode and you've given so many like wonderful answers, if a young person is listening right now and feel stuck or like they're heading down a dangerous path, what would you want them to hear right now?

00:53:10 Speaker 4

I would want them to know that there's people.

00:53:11 Speaker 4

00:53:11 Speaker 4

Care about them. I want them to know there's people that care about their future. There are people that spend their work week and their.

00:53:21 Speaker 4

Own free time and their own dollars.

00:53:27 Speaker 4

The time away from their families.

00:53:31 Speaker 4

Just for them, like people really care about them. People really care about you. We want you to have a better life or want you to be safe. I want you to have a good future and it's not just me. There are a lot of people that do this type of work that want to help you.

00:53:47 Speaker 4

It's hard to ask for.

00:53:49 Speaker 4

00:53:50 Speaker 4

But find a way.

00:53:52 Speaker 4

To get involved, find a way to ask for help. Find a way to say, do you think you could help me with this? Or hey, this is what's happening is there? Is there anybody that can give me a hand with this?

00:54:02 Speaker 4

That's what I would want young people to know that there are. There are people who are dedicating their time, their effort, their dollars, their money.

00:54:12 Speaker 4

To their effort, just everything to.

00:54:16 Speaker 4

Help make their lives better because we care about them because they want to see them have a good future. I don't want to see them.

00:54:24 Speaker 4

I don't want to see them injured, dead or in prison. That's what I don't want to see. And that's the path. That's what gun violence looks like. It it looks like being in prison. It looks like being injured or it. It looks like being killed. And those are the things that I don't want. There is a better path. There is a better way.

00:54:44 Speaker 4

And let's let's try to look past.

00:54:47 Speaker 4

These I understand when you're 16171824 seems old and it seems so long away, but this six year window the chances of success goes up dramatically if I can get them through that that that time frame. And so that's a big area that I want to.

00:55:08 Speaker 4

To continue to improve on, but I want them to come, come and find us, and if they're not comfortable being able to come find me any of these organizations I talked about, stay focused. Wendell Davis Foundation garden pathways Compassion, Christian Center, Community Action partnership, current these are all organizations.

00:55:27 Speaker 4

Dedicating our our time and our effort and our dollars to help make their lives better. So seek some of us out.

00:55:34 Speaker 2

Should our Community partners?

00:55:35 Speaker 4

That's right. That's right.

00:55:38 Speaker 3

There's such a great advice I don't. Well, that's good.

00:55:41 Speaker 2

That was that was wonderful.

00:55:43 Speaker 2

Is there anything you wish we asked you?

00:55:47 Speaker 4

No, you guys are good, man. You guys wrote some good questions. We had good conversation. I feel like I feel like you really got to the heart of of the issue and and.

00:55:56 Speaker 4

00:55:57 Speaker 4

That we're doing so, thank you.

00:55:58 Speaker 4

For having me. And thank you. Thanks.

00:55:59 Speaker 3

It was wonderful for having. I feel like I've learned so many new things just from sitting here.

00:56:03 Speaker 4

Well, good. I appreciate it. I've enjoyed, I've enjoyed our time together and and it's been it's been great you guys do.

00:56:09 Speaker 4

00:56:10 Speaker 3

Yeah. Thank you. Before we wrap things up, we like to ask you do you have a life motto?

00:56:14 Speaker 4

00:56:15 Speaker 4

00:56:16 Speaker 4

Yeah, I kind of do. So I have core.

00:56:21 Speaker 4

Values I would.

00:56:22 Speaker 4

Say I've got. I certainly have a I write it, I've written it out and I read it to myself every morning and it's. But it's kind of long, so I I did distill it down to like.

00:56:36 Speaker 4

To these core values of be strong, be courageous, be kind, be compassionate, be humble, but confident and be gritty.

00:56:45 Speaker 4

And so those are the six things that I would say, I think being strong, physically strong, but also mentally strong, being courageous, that might be physical courage, but oftentimes it's moral courage. It's being courageous enough to do the right thing, being kind.

00:57:05 Speaker 4

To to people and being compassionate to other people, being humble, which I like this I didn't come up with this. I stole it from somebody else's humble is not.

00:57:16 Speaker 4

Thinking less of yourself, but it's thinking of yourself less, right? And so thinking of others there and. But when I, when I think of humble, sometimes I think of me can if I want you to be humble but still be confident you can be helpful. You can be can.

00:57:31 Speaker 4

00:57:31 Speaker 4

Have that humility, but still be confident and then being gritty. Like for me that is.

00:57:37 Speaker 4

Person never stops, never quits, never gives up fights for every square inch of everything that you need, you're clawing, you're scratching. You're just fighting to get better. And that's what that means for me. So those are the core values for me that.

00:57:54 Speaker 4

That I would say is best, strong and courageous, kind of compassionate, humble but confident and gritty. Love it.

00:57:59 Speaker 3

I think it's. I think it speaks to what what you've been talking about this whole episode. I think it even though you you could have gone without saying that. But I think it speaks to who you are and what you the answers you've given and the different types of values you hold.

00:58:13 Speaker 4

I I really like that. I think it's important for people to think about what are the things that I value most, what are the things I want to be in this life? What do I want to be known as? What do I want people to know me as?

00:58:27 Speaker 4

And if you don't know exactly what that is, identify somebody in your life.

00:58:31 Speaker 4

That you think is a good person, something that you look up to somebody you're like. I really like those traits. What it then think about it. What is it that you like about that person that you admire? What is it you want to do? Write some of those things down. And when you do that, you'll start to see what those traits are. And you'll know these are the things that.

00:58:48 Speaker 4

Are important to.

00:58:48 Speaker 4

Me this is what I want to be known as.

00:58:52 Speaker 4

And then let that guide your actions, and when you're doing something going, am I being.

00:58:59 Speaker 4

Am I being courageous right now? Am I being? Am I doing this to make me strong right now? Am I being kind right now? Am I being compassionate right now? Am I being humble right now? OK. And I'm tired. I'm quitting. I'm giving up. Am I showing grit right now like?

00:59:14 Speaker 4

You can hold yourself.

00:59:15 Speaker 4

Accountable in those ways, too. And.

00:59:18 Speaker 4

That can guide your actions and to me that's what they are. They're core values. These are guiding values. That's what guides what you're going to do, where you're going to go, what you want to be, and don't just wake up in the morning and go well, whatever comes my way is.

00:59:31 Speaker 4

Whatever it comes and I'll I'll go whichever way the wind blows. Like you got a chart. Of course you want to know exactly where you're going, right? You want to know that's your end state. This is what I'm this is what I'm shooting for. This is my path. Now, sometimes we get knocked off our path. Sometimes we fall short of those things. But you still know exactly where it is that you're going.

00:59:51 Speaker 4

Right, you're going.

00:59:52 Speaker 4

To if I were to ask you both.

00:59:54 Speaker 4

Where are you? Where?

00:59:55 Speaker 4

You want to go on vacation. You're gonna say, man, I wanna go here.

00:59:58 Speaker 4

OK. How are we gonna get there? We're gonna book a plane. We're gonna book a ship. Are we gonna drive a car? You're gonna ride a train? You gonna ride a bus? What are you gonna do? How are you gonna get to your vacation? You know, just walk out your front door and go. I'm going left today, and then I'm going on vacation. Where you going? I don't know. You know, you. You have a plan. And.

01:00:17 Speaker 4

That's probably a dumb analogy, but that's.

01:00:19 Speaker 4

That think about that with your life and know what.

01:00:21 Speaker 4

01:00:22 Speaker 4

Have to know what you want to do.

01:00:23 Speaker 4

But know who you start to identify who you wanna be and start building a planner working, working towards that. When you get knocked off the step, it's OK to be able to come back and go. Alright? I'm moving towards this. I'm going towards this is where I'm where I'm headed. So that's to me, that's the idea of a model. That's the idea of core values and guiding values. And and those might change.

01:00:43 Speaker 4

Because as you get older too, and that's OK, just know what exactly it is that that you're wanting to accomplish. What you want to do, where you want to go, what you want to be known as, how you want people to know you, how you plan on living your life. And I promise you, if you do that, you will not be unsuccessful.

01:00:59 Speaker 2

That was an excellent, excellent analogy, by the way, and those core values were amazing as well, and I could see those values in you like. Sorry, I just want I just said, you know, we gotta compliment because he was, he was he's he's done so much for our community and also I could see those values in you it's not just like your position some people think their position and community finds them but I could see outside of that.

01:01:19 Speaker 2

No, you're kind of just, you're just a genuine.

01:01:21 Speaker 2

Person, thank you.

01:01:22 Speaker 2

And you're passionate about what you do, and you don't think to get anything back, you just do it because you're passionate about it. And I really.

01:01:27 Speaker 2

01:01:28 Speaker 3

You thank you so much. Thank you. Yeah, like you have your your core values have something that mean deeper to you. Something that means like, even though the day is hard, something's going on. You can sit and ask those questions and be like.

01:01:39 Speaker 3

And I hit this mark, did I? Was I humble yet confident was I? Did I show my grit? Did I fight for what I believed in and and what? What I stand did you?

01:01:47 Speaker 3

Stand on business as well.

01:01:48 Speaker 4

That's right. Oh, I like that. And OK.

01:01:52 Speaker 3

Did you spend on business as well?

01:01:53 Speaker 3

This thing it has been such an amazing episode, I think I'll be the first one and I came.

01:01:59 Speaker 3

01:01:59 Speaker 3

Little a little different. I was like, I don't know what we've never done an episode like this, so I I did come in a little, a little different. I was like, I don't know what's in store, so maybe I'm a little more guarded. And I think you did an excellent job of just spreading the wisdom and that you care about the community. You care about these kids that you work with you care about.

01:02:16 Speaker 3

People you don't even know, and that's something that's we see so rarely nowadays, especially because of the way the world's going. I think that you showed your true colors and you showed beautiful colors.

01:02:26 Speaker 4

Thank you. Thank you. I enjoyed my time here with you guys. If you ever invite me back, I'll be here.

01:02:32 Speaker 2

Thank you so much. I kind of went in here kind of little and easy to cause something we've never done before, but I'm glad we've done it. So thank you so much for being on you.

01:02:40 Speaker 2

For simplified you got it.

01:02:47 Speaker 3

I will be the first to admit to say that I am very pleasantly surprised. I think I came in here with.

01:02:52 Speaker 3

01:02:52 Speaker 3

Very different. Maybe a little standoffish, you know, but I think that he really.

01:02:59 Speaker 3

Showed that he cared and you know, like I said earlier, he showed his core values without even saying them like.

01:03:05 Speaker 3

01:03:06 Speaker 3

I could feel that he really believes in the work he does and he really believes that this is this is what's gonna change the community and he really believes that if we work together, we can continue to change.

01:03:16 Speaker 2

Lives and you can definitely tell that he was passionate about.

01:03:19 Speaker 2

His work in the community and about the the collaboration between the rest of our community. I love this core values and couple things. I hope that listeners take out of this is mainly for.

01:03:31 Speaker 2

Youth for youth that are involved, maybe in in gun violence or are kind of around that kind of environment. I hope they know that. You know, there's a way to kind of maneuver out of that. You have commute, you have a community that cares about you and.

01:03:45 Speaker 2

You know, just moving forward, I hope that you know your environment doesn't impact you in a negative way.

01:03:52 Speaker 3

He seems like the type of person you could just walk up to and say I can help and he's there to help no matter what it.

01:03:56 Speaker 3

Is and that's I.

01:03:58 Speaker 3

Think that's really rare to find these days? It's kind of those people who open the bubble because they're so interesting and special and kind and just have this radiant light about them. I think it's like, please don't go, just stay in the bubble and and stay safe so we could share you with the world.

01:04:12 Speaker 3

Till the world is fixed.

01:04:14 Speaker 2

You can definitely with him. He's an advocate and if so, if you ever needed help or anything, he's definitely one of the best advocates in our community.

01:04:21 Speaker 3

I think he's really changed my perspective on law enforcement. I think that if, when if he's if he is the one in charge, which he has his assist.

01:04:29 Speaker 3

You know, you get you think. I feel like I have a lot more positive outlook on law enforcement now that I've talked to him. Now that I've sat with him, now that I've really understood who.

01:04:31 Speaker 2

That's a big role.

01:04:38 Speaker 3

01:04:40 Speaker 3

I think I have a lot of a better positive outlook on law enforcement.

01:04:44 Speaker 2

And it was more hard to know that he is our assistant chief of police police here.

01:04:47 Speaker 2

In our community.

01:04:49 Speaker 2

So shout out to you, shout out to you, Brent.

01:04:52 Speaker 3

It was a really great episode. Thank you so much. I I I love his wisdom. I feel like I could talk about this guy all day. I don't. I barely met him. I thought I could talk about him all day and be like he was so wise. And he just it's like he he vomited all this wisdom, you know? You know, he just.

01:05:05 Speaker 3

Threw it up on the table.

01:05:06 Speaker 2

Served it hot and fresh. It's crazy, but OK.

01:05:12 Speaker 3

I mean that's I feel like I was. I came in here, very guarded. I came in here very like unsure of.

01:05:16 Speaker 3

But this episode was going to be, and I feel like I loved, very pleasantly surprised.

01:05:23 Speaker 2

I came in unsure as well, but the end result I am definitely glad that he came on our podcast and I am pleased with the results so.

01:05:29 Speaker 3

Me too. Me too. As we wrap things up this episode, we hope you found our conversation illuminating and inspiring. The story shared today shed light on the importance of listening and advocating for our youth, especially those with lived experience.

01:05:41 Speaker 2

01:05:41 Speaker 2

Someone you know can relate to these topics, we've.

01:05:44 Speaker 2

Best if you're interested in finding our show notes or any recommended resources for our episodes, be sure to check out our website at www.kernel.org/Y BA we'd love to hear from you if you have any questions, comments or concerns or would like to suggest a topic or guests, feel free to reach out to us at.

01:05:59 Speaker 2

Youthvoiceamplified@gmail.com.

01:06:01 Speaker 3

We encourage you to take action, whether it's engaging with local organizations or volunteering your time, or simply just reaching out to a young person in your community, every effort counts. Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast for more stories and insights, and feel free to share this episode with your network to help spread awareness.

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Brian Johnson

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Gennessa Fisher