The NYPD's 46th Precinct in the Bronx is looking to sports as a way of getting kids off the streets and away from violence this summer.
The "Cohesion Thru Sports" program is intended to be a new form of community policing. The 46th Precinct is the first to enact such a program.
The program's goal is to teach leadership, discipline and enhance police relations with kids ages 8-15. It also aims to end youth violence plaguing some communities, says NYPD Capt. Keith Walton, who adopted the initiative.
"We realized some of our youth are being victimized and some of our youth are being led or misled in the right direction," Walton says.
"Cohesion Thru Sports" is now in the hands of three veteran officers - Fiol, Maria and Rivers. The trio was taken off duty so they could focus on the program.