Pasadena Police Department Plans 5-Year Agreement with Pasadena Unified School District Under “Project Prevent”

The Pasadena Police Department plans to enter into a five-year agreement with the Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) to assign officers to Pasadena Unified School District schools in support of the U.S. Department of Education’s “Project Prevent” grant program. 

Under “Project Prevent,” the Department of Education assists local educational agencies, such as PUSD, in increasing their capacity to reduce the incidence of violence in schools and communities with pervasive violence. 

Overall, the program awards financial grants to school districts so they can improve their ability to identify, assess and serve students exposed to pervasive violence, offer affected students mental health services for trauma and anxiety, support conflict resolution programs, and put school-based violence prevention programs in place to reduce the likelihood that these students will later commit violent acts.    

A report by the Pasadena Police Department said PUSD is one of 15 award recipients under “Project Prevent” for 2019 and is entitled to receive up to $150,000 per year starting in fiscal year 2021. Funds will be used for the school district’s Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) program, the Aggression Replacement Training (ART) program, a Check-in/Check-out (CICO) program, and Active Shooter and Mass Casualty Training program. 

GREAT institutes a skills-based middle school curriculum taught by specially trained, uniformed law enforcement officers that’s designed to provide students with the skills they need to avoid gang pressure and youth violence.  

The ART program is a cognitive, behavioral intervention program targeting chronically aggressive children and adolescents to help them improve social skills and moral reasoning so they can better manage anger and reduce aggressive behavior. 

CICO involves requiring targeted students – those who need extra help in managing their behavior – to check in with an adult mentor at the beginning of each day to make sure they’re ready for class and check out later in the day so they can analyze how the students have been able to meet their behavioral goals.  

Active Shooter and Mass Casualty Training programs are usually targeted toward school administrators so they know what to do in case an active-shooter or mass-casualty situation occurs in their school or community.

The Pasadena PD will present these plans to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, March 17, during a special meeting that begins at 4:30 p.m.

Specifically, Pasadena Police Chief John Perez will present a proposal to provide PUSD with officers who can work as part-time instructors and facilitators for the GREAT and ART programs, and one part-time trained coordinator to manage program operations, the report showed. 

These officers will also implement a family component for GREAT, which involves training programs, including in-home visits as needed, to help families foster a healthier home environment.

Funding-wise, the Pasadena PD-PUSD agreement will result in a net-zero fiscal impact to the city, since funding will be provided from the U.S. Department of Education grant. 

The Public Safety Committee’s special meeting begins on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Members of the community may watch and listen through 

http://pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9 and www.pasadenamedia.org. 

Public comments may be sent by email to vflores@cityofpasadena.net or through  

www.cityofpasadena.net/commissions/public-comment.