PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, Md. — Starting Monday, volunteers with the Safe Passage project will be out in the community in Prince George’s County making sure students get home safely.
We first told you about the program in March. It places volunteers near schools where violence, crime, or traffic have been an issue. It comes after recent tragedies in the county. Two children — age 5 and 10 — were hit and killed while walking to school in Riverdale, Maryland. And Duval High school student was shot and killed while walking home from school. Police say she was trying to stop a fight.
As part of the pilot program launching Monday, volunteers will be outside of six schools in the county helping to guide students on the walk home. Violence interrupters trained volunteers who are prohibited from engaging physically with any students.
WUSA9 spoke to volunteer, Derreck Cobbs, about why he decided to get involved with the program.
"I'm a former teacher and so I know the importance of keeping our children our babies safe. And hearing all the unfortunate news that about kids not been able to get home safely, or even incidents where kids have been hit by vehicles and I just want to do my part in helping my community of Prince George's county," said Cobbs.
The following six schools are involved in the pilot program:
- Largo High School
- Suitland High School
- Charles Herbert Flowers High School
- Central High School
- Bladensburg High School
- Andrew Jackson Middle School
We spoke with Cobbs about what the training entailed.
"We went over if a student was in distress, like how to how to navigate that...try to find the correct authorities or to address the situation. Also, if we see something, say something. We're not to get involved with any type of altercations or anything, we're hands off. Our goal is to be a friendly face to help guide students to where they need to go," said Cobbs.
Click here if you're interested in volunteering. Organizers tell us they need around 300 volunteers to keep the program running.
"We often hear complaints about why things aren't going well in the community. We need change, somebody needs to do something... Well, here's an opportunity for you to help as well. If you want to see change in your community, it can start with with those within the community to be able to volunteer and I think this is a good situation hopefully it works and we can expand to other schools within the county," said Cobb.
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