Police officers and young men of color come together at this Miami Gardens event

Congresswoman Frederica Wilson is delighted.

More than 600 students of color, all dressed in starched white-collared shirts and red ties, are sitting among 200 police officers at Hard Rock Stadium. The students are from everywhere — North Miami Senior High, William H. Turner Technical Arts High, Booker T. Washington Senior High — and are there to learn one thing: how to safely interact with police.

“We have saved so many young men because they don’t know,” Wilson said. She referenced the pamphlet that was handed out to the students. Inside were explanations of suspicious behavior, rights and a step-by-step list of what should be done after being pulled over. “All police officers don’t come into the force ready to help some little Black boys.”

The 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, a mentoring program started by Wilson in 1993, hosted its annual Youth and Police conference Tuesday in Miami Gardens, the first in-person gathering of its sort since 2020. Wilson’s program, which specifically aims to keep boys of color in school, includes a rather prominent list of mentors including former President Barack Obama, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. This event featured role-playing sessions, discussions and just genuine sharing of information aimed to help young men of color and police better understand the others’ humanity.

“I learned that not many police officers really want to see you fail,” said Stevenson Joseph, a junior at William H. Turner Technical Arts High School.

Tuesday’s event resembled one elongated version of “the talk,” something that has become a rite of passage in Black households in which boys are taught about how to conduct themselves around police. 5000 Role Models collaborated with the Miami-Dade County Association of Police Chiefs, Broward Sheriff’s Office and the Miami Dolphins to bring together officers from across various departments and students from 20 schools throughout South Florida.

“We’re really focused on improving relationships between groups,” said Rashauna Hamilton, the Dolphins’ senior director of community relations and youth programs. She called the 5000 Role Models “a pillar in South Florida,” adding that the program’s goals directly aligned with that of the Dolphins.

Wilson deemed the current relationship between young boys of color and the police rife with “tension.” Events like these are designed to ease the apprehension but also equip the boys with the skills necessary to interact with police. On the flip side, the officers get to engage with students, allowing for genuine bonds to be formed.

“Because that tension exists, we try to have a coalition with the boys and the police officers so that they can learn to coexist,” Wilson said.

The most engaging activity of the day was the role playing. Students acted out various interactions with the police, ranging from a traffic stop with four people in the car to being approached while hanging out on the corner. Moments like these made the day itself “very important,” Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez said.

It’s one thing to criticize police-community relations, but it’s another thing “actually having a curriculum and a hands-on approach where officers and our youth interact in uncomfortable situations and learn how to understand each other,” Ramirez said.

For student Christ Thomas, the day restored his trust in police. The murder of George Floyd had made him very hesitant about law enforcement; however, that changed Tuesday.

“With their explanation on how cops also do get in trouble when they’re not acting properly and knowing they have a body camera,” Thomas, a senior at North Miami Senior High, said he feels better.