Four new metro Salt Lake Scouting units were officially chartered this week, the fulfillment of a dream for Scouts, volunteers and professional Scouters of the Great Salt Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America and city police officers.
And for 9-year-old Michael Vasquez, who was looking forward to a night of pizza and a free seat at the Utah Grizzlies hockey game, things couldn't have been much better."Besides going to hockey games, I like the things we do in this troop. We do lots of stuff, and I like using compasses," he said.
At a press conference Monday afternoon at Centro Civico Mexicano, 155 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City Police Chief Ruben Ortega, along with Scouting officials, unveiled "Operation Neighborhood."
The four new Scouting units established include: Troop 1060, sponsored by Centro Civico Mexicano, which will also sponsor Cub Scout Pack 4060; Troop 1147, sponsored by the Capitol West Boys and Girls Club; and Law Enforcement Explorers Post No. 2471, sponsored by the Salt Lake Police Department.
About 25 Scouts and as many parents, leaders and other adults were at the press conference.
Before Monday's chartering, the Great Salt Lake Council, third largest in America, had tried unsuccessfully for many years to establish Scouting units for youths in the inner city, said David E. Halliday, council vice president over relationships who heads a council committee on urban emphasis.
The program is a collaborative effort between the Scout council, the Salt Lake City Police Department's Community Support Division and the United Way of the Great Salt Lake Area.
The purpose is aimed at providing a quality Scouting experience for youths not otherwise served, said council spokesman Kay God-frey.
Halliday said Scouting leaders, police officers, United Way and other officials hope to reach youths "who spend more time on the streets than they do in other programs and who may be at risk for gang involvement."
Ortega said in an interview earlier on Monday that he believes Scouting is an excellent way to develop positive relationships between police officers and youths. But one difficulty in developing such a program, he said, is that minorities have not traditionally looked at Scouting as a program for them.
Parents are usually very busy trying to provide for their families. And many times youths don't want to join a Scouting unit or don't have the money for uniforms so they shy away from the program. Also, it is often difficult to get leadership, he said.
In an attempt to solve the latter problem, Ortega said four police officers, Sgt. Don Campbell and patrol officers James Washington, Shawn Streeter, Gary Young and Mike Brown are involved. The officers are involved in leadership roles on an off-duty basis from the police department.
"They will be working on an overtime basis. The majority of the funds for the program come from businesses and individuals (honorary colonels) in the community who made donations to get the program started, with some assistance from the Scouting program," Ortega said.
Ortega, who said he joined the Scout council's executive board about 11/2 years ago on a commitment that the council would do more for inner-city youths, said police officers will work to develop leadership in the Scouting units.
The officers will then move on to hopefully start new units in other geographical areas. Hopefully, parents and other local citizens will assume leadership for the Scouting units, the chief said.
Halliday said efforts are being made to see that Hispanic, Asian and other ethnic communities are given opportunities for experiences in Scouting.
"For a long time, Scouting in Salt Lake City has been perceived as a white, LDS organization restricted to middle-class young people. We have made a number of attempts to break into Hispanic and Asian communities. These new Scouting units represent the first of a number of units that will target youths in minority groups," Halliday said.
"Our focus is to reach out to young people who may not come across Scouting through traditional means such as a church or family affiliation. These new Scouting units represent a partnership between us (the council) and the Salt Lake Police Department. The Police Department will provide some manpower in terms of unit leadership, and we (the Scout council) will provide unit leadership," Halliday said.
Halliday said youths and parents have expressed strong interest and support for the Scouting pro-grams.
"If language and access are not barriers, they (parents) are very excited about having their sons participate," Halliday said.
Godfrey said Operation Neighborhood will involve police officers as "role models interacting with inner-city youths. They will conduct Scouting programs and teach Scouting principles designed to promote community service, self-reliance and build character."
Halliday said, "We think there are maybe 25,000 youths in minority groups who are moving into the state or who for one reason or another do not have a close association with a traditional (Scouting) sponsor such as a church or fraternal organization.
"We see this (service) as a prevention-type program - in helping youths between ages 14 and 15 to increase their self-esteem and to be able to see themselves as a valuable member of society," he said. "We don't see the program pulling (kids) out of hard-core gangs."