CUTTING EDGE MPD PROGRAM TARGETS MIDDLE SCHOOLERS

A new, cutting-edge police program is getting the attention of some
Mesquite ISD middle school students.

The program titled "What If" is a concoction of stunning visuals and
audio to relay the message to students of consequences from drinking,
drug use, and violence.

Officers with the Mesquite Police Department will travel to all eight
middle school campuses this year. On Wednesday, the program was at
Kimbrough Middle School.

Issues facing young teens today include drugs, alcohol and violence,
to name a few. The program also integrates high school students from
Mesquite, North Mesquite, Poteet and West Mesquite High Schools to
relay the message through singing and acting.

Officers began producing the program back in June. The program begins
with a short video titled "Be Good Johnny," which encourages students
to remember to be respectful and study hard to get good grades and
avoid hanging out with the wrong crowds.

The program's second montage is a bit longer and chronicles some high
school students using drugs and alcohol at a house party, which gets
out of hand after one student shoots another classmate. The montage
bounces back and forth, using real-time reactions from students and
movie clips before concluding with a clip of a funeral service and
real casket, to drive home the message that every action has a reaction.

Each high schooler had a very important message for the middle
schools, like Mesquite High's Hailey Bradshaw, who said, "Teens go
through stuff like this all the time. So make the right choice to
save your own life."

Tossed into the program is a message from Dallas Police Officer Tony
Crawford, who was injured in the line of duty in 1991 when a bullet
hit his spine. Crawford, who is now paralyzed, discussed the actions
that two teenage boys took which changed his life.

"This is a deal where a majority of police officers would rather
spend an hour on doing something positive with these young people,
than respond to something tragic that involves these students,"
Crawford said. "Saving one life makes any program worthwhile."

West Mesquite Student Resource Officer Jeff French, who emceed the
program, said the program is designed to make students think. Officer
Kyle Griffin, who produced much of the video for the program, said
the idea was to make the program cutting-edge to the point where it
not only gained the attention of students but it also relayed a very
important message.

And the students agree.

"Don't do drugs, and make the right decisions," said Kimbrough
seventh-grader Rocky Herrera, regarding what she learned. "I think
talking about violence and fighting was real important because that
is a critical topic."