Oakland Ambassadors

On Tuesday night, I saw this story -- and blinked.

"An Oakland City Councilwoman today proposed that the city employ at-risk youth as safety escorts in and around BART stations.

"Following a spate of robberies in her North Oakland district, Councilwoman Jane Brunner said she came up with the idea of the Oakland Ambassadors program as a way of improving public safety in a city where criminals are taking advantage of an officer shortage.

"'We need it for two reasons,' Brunner said. 'It will help people getting off BART in our city feel welcome to Oakland. We're having serious issues at eight in the morning, but particularly at night ... All people using BART ... need to feel safe.'"

So you're putting would-be robbers to work walking old ladies to their homes? Seriously, I think I've lived in the Bay Area too long. I'm about to go Republican at this point.

I emailed Brunner about her plans. Below is our exchange. Start from the bottom and read up.

Thank you for your email about the Oakland ambassadors program. This program is employing 18-24 year olds to be ambassadors in downtown and neighborhood Bart stations. The young people will give direction to visitors and escort residents when requested.

I am writing to respond to a few concerns some people have had regarding the Oakland Ambassadors Program. I appreciate both the willingness of many to look at this approach to dealing with public safety, as well as the concerns others have with the safety of people using the program and even the Ambassadors themselves.

I want to clarify how I envision the Ambassadors program will work, how the participants will be trained, and what we could realistically expect them to do:

§ First, the Ambassadors will be in teams of two and have a supervisor. They will be wearing uniforms and highly visible. Second no one needs to use them. It is a voluntary program. The ambassadors will be in radio contact at all times with their supervisor.

§ The Ambassadors will be adolescents and young adults who have been actively involved in programs that are committed to training them for employment or preparing them for college. For example, I see the Ambassador job, as a perfect part time evening job for a young person entering community college.

§ No young person will act as an Ambassador without extensive training and orientation. Ambassadors would receive customer service training and we will work with neighborhood merchants to familiarize them with the Ambassadors and to make sure the Ambassadors know enough to be truly helpful to visitors.

§ An Ambassador will never be expected to serve in a law enforcement role or be a substitute for the police. Ambassadors would receive training from the OPD in the best ways that they can work with the police and be effective eyes and ears for them.

§ The Ambassadors program is not an intervention program, but a prevention program. They will simply accompany those who request it, the simple idea being that groups of people walking down the street are generally safer than people walking alone. The Ambassadors will work in pairs, so that no Ambassador will return to a BART station alone after accompanying someone.

§ Every Ambassador will receive a background check to ensure that they have no history of drugs or violent activity. We do not want to undermine the credibility of the program, and we want our Ambassadors to have the skills and personality to be helpful, courteous and even potentially to be able to de-escalate tense situations. It’s in everyone’s interest to make sure our Ambassadors have solid reputations.

I hope the above gives you some more detail as to how we envision this program. I want this to work and to be a positive contribution to our community. I think offering more eyes on the street to keep us safe, while employing young people who are committed to having a productive life are both great things for Oakland.

Sincerely

Jane Brunner

-----Original Message-----
From: Allison Landa [mailto:allison@allisonlanda.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 9:54 AM
To: Brunner, Jane
Subject: Oakland Ambassadors program

Dear Jane:

I read with interest your idea of putting at-risk youth to work as ambassadors around local BART stations.

According to the Chronicle article I read: "The ambassadors would work in five-member teams at each Oakland BART station from dusk until 8 p.m., helping commuters to their cars, accompanying people to restaurants or guiding elderly residents making their way home."

I trust you've taken into account the necessity of background checks, as well as the high potential of lawsuits should one of these at-risk youth take advantage of this job opportunity to engage in a little lucrative crime. Pardon my cynicism, but these things happen.

Allison Landa

Berkeley