A faith-based crime prevention program headquartered at Oak Park Baptist Church, Decatur, has earned national recognition.
Partnering with the Decatur Police Department (DPD), the church hosts and helps staff Safe and Friendly Environment (SAFE) – a faith-based community program for youth- aimed at preventing crime.
The Alabama Baptist featured the program in its July 31, 2003, issue. After seeing the story a reader nominated SAFE for recognition to the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC).
The council recently announced that the Decatur program is among the 50 best crime prevention programs in America.
SAFE was chosen because it promotes the “value and utility of partnerships with faith based organizations among the criminal justice community,” said Layla Fry, program manager of NCPC.
The SAFE program is a partnership between the crime prevention unit of the DPD and 13 local churches. SAFE operates on the premises of one of those partner churches- Oak Park Baptist- as a weekend community center.
The center reaches nearly 2,500 youth ages 12-15 from a nearby public housing project. Unpaid police officers and church volunteers staff the center.
“In the target group of juveniles, the staff reports positive attitude changes, increased self-esteem and improvements in social behavior in their neighborhood and the schools they attend,” NCPC writes in its summary of the program.
The program will be featured in the book, “50 Strategies for Faith and Justice Collaboration,” which features “behind the scenes” looks into some of the best programs in the United States, Fry said.
The program will also be included on the council’s McGruff (crime dog) Strategies Center at www.ncpc.org/strategies.
The Web site contains profiles of effective crime prevention programs from around the country. It is a place for city leaders, community members and organizations to research ways of designing their own crime prevention programs.
To read the July 31, 2003, story, visit www.thealabamabaptist.org.
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