"Making the community safe doesn't always involve making an arrest and the thing we have seen over a number of years is that we have quite a bit of crime over the summer and the way to combat that is to give our youth opportunities," Greensboro Police Cheif Brian James said.
The “500 Jobs” program was created by Chief James to help keep teens off the streets and reduce crime in Greensboro.
Last year, I was at a meeting with business and community leaders, and the Greensboro Police Department Community Connectors where Chief James announced his 500 Jobs Program to help combat crime.
I immediately called business leaders, that I knew personally, to be a part of this program. My ask was to provide a job, be willing to mentor a young person, and to expose them to a career path they may not have considered. Last year over 500 youth were partnered with employers. Many of these jobs continued during the school year.
This year the City of Greensboro is adding at least one job in each of our 21 departments to grow this program.
At yesterday’s job fair I spoke with prospective employers and employees. Ralph Lauren was one of those employers. They are willing to place 40+. They will offer training in every department and are willing to go year-round.
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