25923: Hermantin(News)Haitian Citizens Academy bridges mistrust of police (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Sun Sentinel


Haitian Citizens Academy bridges mistrust of police



By Toni Marshall
Staff Writer

July 31, 2005

Paul Metelus grew up in a place where the police are feared and mistrusted.

When he came to South Florida, he brought those sentiments with him.

"If you see police in Haiti, they are so tough. They will shout at you for 
looking at them," said Metelus, 41, one of 33 graduates of the Broward 
Sheriff's Haitian Citizens Academy last year.

"They will beat you up for no reason. They make you nervous. No one talks to 
the police in Haiti."

A new crop of academy graduates will take part in the academy's second 
commencement ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Monday, at Deerfield Beach's Commission 
Chambers, 150 NE Second Ave.

"When I finished the course I realized that the police is nobody's enemy. They 
are everybody's friend," said Metelus, who will be on hand to salute this 
year's class.

The Haitian Citizens Academy, an educational enrichment program open to adults 
18 and older, was established last year to expose Haitian immigrants to 
American law enforcement and to give them a venue to ask about law enforcement. 
The Sheriff's Office copied a plan used in Delray Beach. The class was free to 
the Haitian community.


Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel