On April 4, 2006, the Nebraska State Bar Foundation and its State Center for Law-Related Education sponsored a day-long workshop on the Cops and Kids program developed by the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) in Los Angeles. Laura Wesley from CRF conducted the interactive session for 24 SRO's at the Bar Foundation’s first floor Conference Center at 635 South 14th Street in Lincoln. There was no fee to the officers or their departments to participate.

The Cops and Kids program was begun in Los Angeles in 1994 in response to teachers’ concerns about youth and police relations following the Rodney King verdict and civil unrest. Since 1994, over 10,000 students have participated in Cops & Kids events in L.A., Philadelphia, Rhode Island, Chicago, Arizona, and other locations. Past survey results indicate that the conference provides students, parents, and officers with a unique experience to begin to establish positive lines of communication and develop a deeper understanding of each other. For more information about the program, go to http://www.crf-usa.org/Copskids/copskids_home.html .

School resource officers from Omaha, Lincoln, Council Bluffs, Bellevue, and Columbus participated in the activity, which included several role-playing opportunities. Officer Jim Pauly of the Omaha Police Department assisted Ms. Wesley with the training.

This training was made possible by a grant to the Bar Foundation through funding from Youth for Justice, a division of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) through the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago.

A small group of SRO's role-play teenagers being stopped for a vehicle search.

A team of SRO's lists the strengths and challenges of their respective schools.