DALLAS – As the former Dallas chief of police, David Brown is all about connecting dots and putting puzzles together, so that he can reach a reasonable conclusion that both parties can live with.
So, when Brown was asked by the Dallas Mavericks to make an appearance and be their spokesman during Mavs Night at the Dallas Police Athletic League (PAL) Midnight Basketball Program, he leapt at the opportunity. The event was held at Sam Tasby Middle School in North Dallas.
“The Dallas PAL program is an athletic league, its Midnight Basketball Program focuses on kids who live in areas that are challenged with crime, and not staying busy during the summer,” Brown said. “Those kids that are interested in basketball, join with police officers in a positive sense, this builds trust.
“The hook being basketball, but we’re trying to build bridges within the community. When you do something for someone’s child they generally appreciate it and that is the opportunity for them to work through challenges and crisis in the neighborhood in a positive sense.”
Devalon Lee-Arkansas, a police officer with the Dallas Police Department, has been working with the Midnight Basketball Program for the past six years and has witnessed first-hand its numerous advantages. The free clinic is for kids ages 8-through-18, that meet on Thursdays from 4:30-9 p.m., with complimentary dinner is included.
The program has become so popular that former PAL participants can’t seem to stay away.
“We have a lot of kids that come back that are in college, so we allow them to come back and participate, help out and do the drills and skills,” Lee-Arkansas said. “We feed everyone and have teachable moments with the kids.”
“The biggest thing for us is to show the kids that we care and we’re a part of the community and we want them to see us as being normal.”
In a nutshell, once inside the building, the police officers working the PAL program do not wear their police gear.
“You really don’t see anybody in uniform here,” Lee-Arkansas said. “We have a couple of officers in the parking lot that are actually in uniform, but we want the kids to know that we’re normal.”
“We want to interact with them and have teachable moments and be proactive to keep them out of trouble and give them something to stay busy with.”
Brown, who works for the Mavs on special projects and in social entrepreneurial efforts, said it’s imperative that the police step forth and actively show the youth that they care about them.
“When you show people you care about them, they respond just like anyone else,” Brown said. “We all want to feel like people care about us and respect us.”
Brown has certainly seen that caring coming from the Mavs, who have sent players and front office staff to various places throughout the Metroplex this summer while trying to make a positive impact in the community.
“I think the time that the Mavericks are spending in neighborhoods shows that the Mavericks care,” Brown said. “It shows that the organization have the true mark to serve beyond sports and entertainment.”
Prentice Richmond can relate to the issues the kids in this part of Dallas are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. Now a deputy sheriff for the Dallas County Sheriff Department, Richmond finds solace in the fact that he’s now giving back to the neighborhood he grew up in.
In addition to his sheriff duties, Richmond doubles as the head basketball coach and the coordinator of the basketball portion of the PAL Program.
“I’ve been doing this since 2006 in the Dallas area, serving and giving back to the same community that I grew up in,” Richmond said. “Being able to connect with the youth of this community, show them a different side of policing and show them they can relate to us.”
“We’re people too, we’ve got a sense of humor, we’re fun, we’re loving and we’re caring for everybody. We bleed just like you do, we cry like you do, we’re depressed like you, we don’t have any money like you don’t have any money. This just shows that we are normal people, too. Any opportunity we can do that, that’s what I’m all about each day.”
A third generation Dallasite who grew up in South Oak Cliff, in a neighborhood similar to the one near Sam Tasby Middle School, Brown was adamant in describing how he likes all the stars to align and the dots to be connected between the community and the law enforcement.
“I use the reference, that you make deposits in a bank of trust, where you know when crisis moments happen in the community you’re going to make withdrawals, you don’t want to have an empty account in the bank account of trust,” Brown said.
“These interactions are invaluable because what these kids will view is the cop helping them learn how to play basketball when there’s a crisis moment, and you just want that balance. You just a balance opinion about more of what the facts say happened in a crisis moment.”
“I really identify with these kids and I think it’s really important that the Mavericks and their community outreach is really supporting where sports and culture intersect to where they can help bridge these gaps, bridge these areas where maybe trust needs a little bit of a nudge, a little bit of a boost so these communities can flourish and really have positive relationships going forward.”
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