Young adults weigh in on San Mateo police

Ranging from high school age to 22, the four young adult panelists shared largely positive experiences with law enforcement both in and out of school. And they said those experiences changed their attitudes toward police.

“I grew up skating around with a bunch of kids and it was always the rhetoric that police are bad and I believed it,” said Lydon Fuller, a San Mateo High School graduate studying to become an electrician. “Over time I came to an understanding that they weren’t that bad.”

Fuller said his feelings about law enforcement changed after signing up for the Police Explorer Program, which exposed him to positive role models and the reality of the job.

“I really wish people could go on ride-alongs and experience what it’s like to be in the shoes of a cop. To be honest their job isn’t easy,” he said. “I would not stand where I am today with my views of law enforcement if it wasn’t for me being in this program, doing these ride-alongs and meeting these officers.”

Ryan Lewis, a Serra High School graduate and film school student shared a similar experience with the program.

“I got to see a lot of what they did in the community and how they interacted with youth. They were always respectful and always took the time to talk to the kids and if the kid wanted to play they’d play with them sometimes,” Lewis said. “It was an eye-opening experience.”

Jolaiya Aldridge, a senior at Crystal Springs Uplands High School and member of the Student of Color Committee for Diversity and Equity, shared a positive experience with law enforcement after accidently calling 911 as a young girl. An officer showed up at her door and took the time to explain what it means to call 911.  

“That experience made it more positive for me,” she said. “Officers taking the time to do that is awesome.”

But Aldridge said she’s also had negative experiences with law enforcement that combined with news of police brutality elsewhere in the country overshadow the one positive experience.

“There have been some negative experiences that outweigh that one good experience,” she said. “With some of the recent tensions with the Black Lives Matter movement it’s been actually kind of difficult for me to — I’ve felt a little bit of fear being around police. … In the back of my mind there’s always this [thought that] something could happen and there are people on the other side of the country who’re being hurt. It still affects me the stuff that’s happening around the world.”

Tiano Naufahu, a San Mateo native and representative of the nonprofit Youth for Change, said he’s had largely positive interactions with law enforcement, but also some concerning ones.

“Interacting with most officers I never felt a threat but I feel like there’s different experiences due to profiling of cops towards other people,” he said. “When I’m with myself I can easily communicate and eloquently speak with a cop, but if I’m with a group of my boy cousins or brothers there seems to be a fear or distance we have to try to break through first. I’ve had countless interactions where if I’m with a certain group of people there’d be a different almost crowd reading from officers.”

Shara Watkins, a San Mateo-Foster City School Board Trustee, said many young adults may not feel comfortable speaking in a forum such as this and asked what can be done to amplify their voices.

“What do you see as the best ways to engage in those conversations to get the most voices, particularly from folks that might be hesitant to share their real experiences, because I think those perspectives are so important as we move forward and continue to improve our systems?” she asked.

Aldridge proposed some sort of feedback box at schools and the other panelists said programs such as Coffee with a Cop and National Night Out that create a relaxed and informal setting for dialogue are helpful.

Officer Mike Nguyen, a former school resource officer, said that role provides further opportunities for police and youth to connect in positive ways.

“Often [students] stopped seeing school resource officers as police and more as a trusted adult or member of the school administration or staff,” he said. “A lot of times the students would come and talk to you in private where it wouldn’t be too exposed to other people knowing you’re going to talk to a cop.

“It also gave families a chance instead of going to a police station where you might have that fear of we’re walking into a police department people get arrested to being at school in a safe environment talking to an officer and asking questions,” Nguyen said.

Mignon Page-Broughton, a probation officer in the juvenile diversion program who used to work in schools, offered a similar perspective.

“We had young people who’d come in and talk to us about experiences they had that were not as positive at times with officers,” she said. “We would sit and it became this comfort zone.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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