NCJ Number
180711
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 47 Issue: 12 Dated: December 1999 Pages: 99-103
Date Published
December 1999
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the STARS (Students Traveling and Arriving Safely) program promoted by the Fresno Police Department (California), which is designed to increase the safety of children traveling to and from school.
Abstract
The effort essentially involves training as many people as possible to observe and respond appropriately to any threats to children traveling to and from school. Under the STARS program, police train sanitation workers, bus drivers, public works employees, and letter carriers in how to identify and respond to suspicious activity. These employee groups are eager to assume such a role in the community. Police also broadcast over their radios descriptions of suspects and vehicles involved in crimes against children, so as to involve as many officers as possible in the search for these suspects. An important source of volunteers for the STARS program is the parents of school children. Parents can contribute by traveling the routes taken by children walking to and from school. Highly visible "STARS" vests and magnetic placards for vehicles are presented to parents who have received training in identifying and reporting suspicious activity. Members of the STARS parent patrols do not take enforcement action, but rather use cellular phones or radios to contact school officials of police as needed. This article also describes the roles of students, school district personnel, and police personnel in the STARS program, as well as procedures for implementing STARS in a school district.