Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Rockwood School District (St. Louis, Missouri)

First Presenter’s Email Address

tydennis@yahoo.com

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Tyrone Dennis, 42, 16 year veteran of Atlanta Police Department (Retired) Married (13 years, 3 children) Currently the Director of School Safety for Rockwood School District Employment History Police/ Criminal Investigation City of Atlanta Police Department Criminal Intelligence Unit (Gangs)(ATF Safe Streets) Special Enforcement Section May 2013-August 2020 (retired) Police/Criminal Investigator City of Atlanta Police Department Zone 6 Criminal Investigations Division June 2011-August 2020 (retired) Police Officer/Patrol Officer City of Atlanta Police Department 226 Peachtree St Sw 30303 09/04 to 8/20 Graduated from University of North Alabama (Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice & Sociology ‘02) Graduated from Lake Land College in Mattoon, Illinois (Associate Degree in Criminal Justice ‘99) Played professional basketball in Colombia 🇨🇴 South America for 2 yrs. Started with Atlanta Police in September of ‘04 Did 6 1/2 years on patrol before being promoted to Detective Detective for 10 years Investigator of the Year in ‘15 along with my partner Lakea Gaither Received the Community Service Award in ‘17 Received a Community Service Award from The US Attorney’s Office Southern District of Georgia ‘17 Creator and founder of the community based program Clippers & Cops ‘18 Received the Atlanta PD Commendation Award for my creation of Clippers & Cops program which is to help bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community ‘19 Received a Proclamation from Atlanta City Council for Clippers & Cops ‘19 Specialize in Criminal Street Gangs: Have been tasked with investigating, documenting, and monitoring gangs for the past 7 years Have taken well over 100 hours of training focusing on gangs and gang violence Certified as a gang expert and have testified in well over 10 trials prosecuting gang related crimes such as murder, shootings, armed robbery Have been mentoring/public speaking for 16 years (Project Grad, Real Talk With the Law, Ballin’ for Peace, Clippers & Cops). Received the ASIS Law Enforcement Community Service Award ‘20 University of North Alabama Alumni of the Year ‘20 UNA NAA Board of Directors ‘21 I’m Tyrone Dennis, I was born and raised in St.Louis, Missouri. Graduated from Marquette High School in '97 after being kicked out of school for 43 days at the end of my senior year. Lost a few Division 1 scholarship offers because I helped my friend in a fight. Got a basketball scholarship to a community college (Lake Land College) in Mattoon, Illinois. I graduated with my associates degree in Criminal Justice in '99, then transferred to the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama where I played basketball for two years and to get more money to pay for school I ran Cross Country in my 5th year. I graduated in '02 with my Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice & Sociology. I then went to play pro basketball in Colombia, South America off and on for two and a half years. I also played on the And 1 Tour, and in a minor pro league the WBA (World Basketball Association). I moved to Atlanta in '04 to become Atlanta Police. I swore-in'05. I was assigned to Zone 5/Old 4th Ward/ Boulevard area, for 6 1/2 years. I then got promoted to detective and I was a detective for 9 1/2 years , assigned to the APD Criminal Intelligence/ Gang Unit/ATF Task Force. In 2015 my partner and I were voted the Investigators/Detectives of the Year for our entire department. I won the Community Service Award for my gang outreach in 2016. In 2019 I was given The Atlanta Police Commendation award for the creation of my Clippers & Cops program. I was also given a proclamation by Atlanta City Council for my creation of Clippers and Cops. I’m certified as a gang expert and have testified in countless gang cases court proceedings on the state and federal level. Tyrone Dennis is a recently retired officer after spending more than 16 years in law enforcement. Dennis served as a patrol officer, criminal investigator and certified gang expert with the Atlanta police department and created a popular community based program called “Clippers and Cops” that brings police and community members together for conversations in barbershops. Dennis now serves as the District Safety Officer for the Rockwood School District in the suburbs of St. Louis where he is responsible for creating security, safety plans and as well as security training for staff.

Location

Session Eight Breakouts

Strand #1

Hands: Safety & Violence Prevention

Strand #2

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Relevance

Restorative practices in improving students relationship with law enforcement and School Resource Officers will drastically decrease student interaction in a negative way with law enforcment.

Brief Program Description

Clippers and cops is an organization I (Detective Tyrone Dennis) started in March of 2018 where APD officers actually go into our own communities to speak to civilians about our own experiences; good and bad.

Meeting at local barber shops, Rec centers, to local restaurants, “Clippers and cops” is a relaxed round table discussion that gives every day people a neutral and safe platform for their voices to be heard without judgement, And a place to have an open dialogue about the adversity and hot button issues that have caused such disparity between these 2 conflicting worlds.

Today young people are told that the police are to be feared, avoided, or ignored ... but when we share our own humanity, we break down the barriers that prevent us from getting our messages heard.

Through our “Clippers and Cops” forums, we learn from each other. People let down their guards, open up, and become less intimidated.

From a cop’s POV, we give our own feedback on the challenges we face having to do our jobs in the hostile climate we live in today where the media paints cops in a negative light; which has compelled people to fear the police.

We encourage everyone to express their fears and feelings about the police and to open up about their own personal encounters that have all contributed to their prejudices. This will help the officers see what their actions can do to someone or their families that they may have never thought about. Especially for the newer officers. Policing in 2019 is much different from the 80’s & 90’s.

If they are ever in a tense situation, we teach practical and hands on advice on how to better communicate with each other and advise them on how to conduct themselves to avoid potentially dangerous situations.

By lifting the curtain and putting our shields of authority aside, “Clippers and Cops” shows every day people that all cops arent bad people and that at the end of the day we are just trying to do our jobs the best way we know how. The saying is that it takes a village! Well we all are apart of that village and most of us want a positive change. This is a start!
—————————————————————-
Our Vision

It is our hope to implement the community oriented program for not only Atlanta for every metropolitan city in America. Every third Thursday of the month in a barbershop in every city citizen and police are sitting, talking, and debating with the hopes of hearing each other out. We can agree to disagree, but like in Atlanta leave feeling like I tried and that I may have learned something I didn’t know.

Summary

Conversations with our SRO’s In 2018 I created a program called Clippers & Cops in an effort to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the community. Fast forward to present day, there has been a number of incidents in reference to racial injustice and police brutality that have surfaced causing a further disconnect between citizens and law enforcement. In an effort to continue to bridge that gap in the new position that I am in within Rockwood R-VI School District, I have created a program called Conversations with SRO’s. Many of our students will have their first encounter with law enforcement via our SRO’s. The goal is for our students and our officers to engage in meaningful conversation. From various current events happening in the world, there is a good opportunity {or space} to discuss cultural awareness and tackle all of its nuances head on. *HAVE surfaced *In AN effort... *conversationS *Last sentence: Sentence structure/create two separate thoughts or it reads like a run-on. Should read: {1} “Many of our students will have their first encounter with law enforcement via our SRO’s. {2} “From various current events happening in the world, there is a good opportunity {or space} to discuss cultural awareness and tackle all of its nuances head on.”

Evidence

Fox & Friends (May 2021)

https://video.foxnews.com/v/6256254219001

Webster University

Episode 16: “Black and Blue: Policing in the BLM Era”

Webster Speaks: Dialogues on RACE, EQUITY and INCLUSION | Black and Blue: Policing in the BLM ERA

WSB-TV Story 2/21

https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlanta/2-investigates-nearly-200-apd-officers-retired-resigned-or-were-terminated-last-year/RMUOGJBOPFED3NBLPK3ONJA2WQ

Fox 2 St. Louis (February 2021)

https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/retired-police-officer-being-honored-on-nba-on-tnt-for-cops-and-clippers-program/?anvplayer-autoplay=0&fbclid=IwAR0e5ykcNAQK9u4fWk08I8uyQKgEAtGcRc5C3XnSlPr-baqFSmCYkgUR39c

The Arena (February 2021)

https://www.tntdrama.com/sports/the-arena/season-3/the-arena-february-4-2021?fbclid=IwAR2k4VPAc2eZt_s0HVZusrV2JmXzV7nkmT6NAJVJXKbR8k4ppyNI_nNW7e4

https://youtu.be/Lptaq5AFcSY

Retired police officer being honored on 'NBA on TNT' for Cops and Clippers program

https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/retired-police-officer-being-honored-on-nba-on-tnt-for-cops-and-clippers-program/?anvplayer-autoplay=0

https://www.thecorneliusproject.com/tyrone

Fox 5

https://fox5atlanta.com/news/clippers-and-cop-program-in-atlanta

APS

https://talkupaps.wordpress.com/2019/09/20/clippers-and-cops-south-atlanta-high-school-hosts-barbershop-style-conversation-with-law-enforcement/amp/

FBI

https://leb.fbi.gov/spotlights/community-outreach-spotlight-clippers-and-cops

CNN

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/us/2019/05/31/clippers-and-cops-atlanta-btc-valencia-pkg-newday-vpx.cnn

AJC

https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/community-outreach-barbershops/pOFui3kdsF0aG4Dw6xOcVI/amp.html

Schools

https://www.cisatlanta.org/single-post/2020/02/19/City-of-Atlanta-Police-Detective-Partners-with-Local-Barbershops-and-Schools-to-Mentor-Community-Youth

Fox 2 St. Louis

https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/atlanta-detective-wants-to-bring-clippers-and-cops-program-to-his-hometown-of-st-louis/?anvplayer-autoplay=0

KMOV 4 St. Louis

https://www.kmov.com/news/retired-atlanta-officer-returns-home-to-st-louis-to-help-improve-relationships-between-police-and/article_6c2216cc-fa20-11ea-a818-1f235188f872.html

Learning Objective 1

Restorative Practices

Learning Objective 2

Social Emotional Learning

Learning Objective 3

Citizen and Police Interaction

Keyword Descriptors

Empathy

Presentation Year

2022

Start Date

3-9-2022 9:45 AM

End Date

3-9-2022 11:00 AM

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Mar 9th, 9:45 AM Mar 9th, 11:00 AM

Clippers & Cops and Go Pro in Life

Session Eight Breakouts

Clippers and cops is an organization I (Detective Tyrone Dennis) started in March of 2018 where APD officers actually go into our own communities to speak to civilians about our own experiences; good and bad.

Meeting at local barber shops, Rec centers, to local restaurants, “Clippers and cops” is a relaxed round table discussion that gives every day people a neutral and safe platform for their voices to be heard without judgement, And a place to have an open dialogue about the adversity and hot button issues that have caused such disparity between these 2 conflicting worlds.

Today young people are told that the police are to be feared, avoided, or ignored ... but when we share our own humanity, we break down the barriers that prevent us from getting our messages heard.

Through our “Clippers and Cops” forums, we learn from each other. People let down their guards, open up, and become less intimidated.

From a cop’s POV, we give our own feedback on the challenges we face having to do our jobs in the hostile climate we live in today where the media paints cops in a negative light; which has compelled people to fear the police.

We encourage everyone to express their fears and feelings about the police and to open up about their own personal encounters that have all contributed to their prejudices. This will help the officers see what their actions can do to someone or their families that they may have never thought about. Especially for the newer officers. Policing in 2019 is much different from the 80’s & 90’s.

If they are ever in a tense situation, we teach practical and hands on advice on how to better communicate with each other and advise them on how to conduct themselves to avoid potentially dangerous situations.

By lifting the curtain and putting our shields of authority aside, “Clippers and Cops” shows every day people that all cops arent bad people and that at the end of the day we are just trying to do our jobs the best way we know how. The saying is that it takes a village! Well we all are apart of that village and most of us want a positive change. This is a start!
—————————————————————-
Our Vision

It is our hope to implement the community oriented program for not only Atlanta for every metropolitan city in America. Every third Thursday of the month in a barbershop in every city citizen and police are sitting, talking, and debating with the hopes of hearing each other out. We can agree to disagree, but like in Atlanta leave feeling like I tried and that I may have learned something I didn’t know.