Detroit — Detroit police faced off against students for pickup basketball Tuesday, and you couldn’t miss the Detroit Pistons signs on the court and walls, as if to inspire.
Cops & Kids was organized by former Detroit Lions wide receiver Herman Moore and the Detroit Police Athletic League, a 50-year-old program that partners officers with children to serve as mentors and coaches.
The setting: The Pistons Performance Center in Detroit.
Moore’s company, Team 84, bought a season tickets package for the Pistons that included two hours of court time. at the center. Moore said he wanted to use the court time to bring officers and the community together
Beginning at 5 p.m., they came together for the face-to-face.
“We thought it’d be great, given the climate and just the connection the community and law enforcement need to have,” said Moore, CEO and Team 84 founder. “How do we get them together in a place where they can have that communication, how they can come together and have those critical conversations,” Moore said.
Cameron Collins, 16, plays forward for Frederick Douglas Academy and is part of the PAL program. His team of high school students beat the officers by two points and his PAL mentor, Officer Bryant George, was on the opposing team.
Before the game Collins said he was “looking forward to having a good game … just having a little fun and playing on the (Piston’s) court.”
George said the PAL program helps students with more than just sports and includes lessons in goal setting, resilience, healthy lifestyles, accountability and teamwork.
“As a Detroit police officer, my goal is to make sure that the community has that true enriching experience with officers in a way where they can see us in a positive light,” he said.
For Cameron, who has known George since he was in middle school, it’s been a fruitful partnership.
“It’s just taught me a lot of different things,” he said. “He’s helping me grow as a young man and transition to adulthood.”
George said events like this can be critically important for youth, as they were for him hen he was a child in the PAL program.
“It changed my life, so I knew as a kid I was going to be a police officer,” he said. “I feel like if I can be a positive police officer now, maybe some of the young people who are on the court today with us may want to be police officers as well.”
Detroit PAL CEO Fred Hunter said sports serve as an avenue for holistic youth development.
“Everybody loves sports, it’s kind of a hook and what brings people in,” Hunter said. “And then it gives the opportunity for the mentorship with the police officers … Everybody plays basketball so they can meet here, and then we can create those bonds.”
Kassidy Cain, 12, played on the middle school team and said it was challenging to play against an older group.
“It’s fun, you know, seeing (PAL officers) actually play sports instead of just talking about it,” Cain said.
Moore said he hopes events like Tuesday’s can happen in communities across the country in partnership with professional organizations.
“We can work together; we can have communication,” Moore said. “There is no breakdown. It just means that we just have to sit down and have that conversation.
“Not all citizens are bad, and not all cops are bad. This is a place where we meet one another. So we’re hoping to go from here to continue to bring out more engagement, and community focus on communication.”
hmackay@detroitnews.com
@hmackayDN