JUNIOR POSSE

No segment of our community is immune to the far-reaching effects of drug abuse.  This is a real life, everyday problem for a community regardless of its size, geographic location or economic situation.  Left unchecked, it steadily erodes the quality of life on the street in the  neighborhood and eventually an entire community.

There is a definite need for  more effective resources to address troubled juveniles and their families before the youth persists in anti-social behaviors.  Caught in time, pre delinquent and delinquent youth can often be helped to become responsible productive adults instead of ending up behind bars for most of their adult lives.

In October 1988, Sheriff John Green initiated the Sheriff's Junior Posse Program to promote drug-free attitudes among today's school-aged youth.  The Junior Posse Program instills self-esteem in youth by providing positive alternatives to peer pressure.  One way this  is accomplished is through slide and video presentations throughout the Philadelphia School District, which depict the seriousness of drug use and the legal repercussions that can and will follow. These in school presentations are conducted by trained Sheriff's Office Community Outreach Specialists.

Sheriff Green developed the Junior Posse program to steer young people away from negative behavior that can have a devastating impact on the rest of their lives.  Since 1988, the Junior Posse has used its informational and motivational approach to provide school age youth with a serious look at the results of criminal activity and drug use.

Junior Posse coordinators addresses students within the school system and the community to give them a mental picture of life for young people behind bars.  At the close of the presentation, all students are encouraged to take the Junior Posse pledge to remain drug free, to resist peer pressure to participate in criminal activity, and to encourage their peers to do the same.  After the formal presentation, the Posse leaders take smaller groups of students on tours of the juvenile holding facilities at 1801 Vine Street. Students ride to the holding facilities on the same bus that is used to transport prisoners. When they arrive at 1801 Vine, they walk through the hall of the cell rooms and see prisoners, many of them the same age or younger than themselves awaiting trial in criminal court.

This sobering look at young people involved in the criminal justice system as prisoners often is enough to bring about life changing attitudes. For those students who resolve to continue to do wrong, the Sheriff's Office offers one-on-one sessions with youngsters and their parents.

JUNIOR POSSE PLEDGE
I pledge
to avoid participation in any criminal activity,
to refuse to be pressured by my peers into doing the wrong thing,
to remain drug free, and to encourage my peers to do the same,
to reject any and all offers to sell illegal drugs.

As a Member of the Sheriff's Junior Posse, I will strive to think before I act,
to choose compromise and reason when solving disagreements and
disputes that I may have with my peers, and
to conduct myself in such a manner that is a credit
to my family, my neighborhood and my school.