Edina Police Launch Youth Basketball Program to Build Community Trust
The Edina Police Department has partnered with the Southdale YMCA to create "Cops on the Court," a basketball program designed to improve relationships between officers and local youth following a series of incidents at the facility.
The program pairs police officers with young people on mixed basketball teams, aiming to transform how youth perceive law enforcement in their community. Officers are assigned one or two per team, working alongside volunteers from the city's Multicultural Advisory Committee and community partners including Chick-fil-A.
"We were seeing some like an influx of incidents there and the gym was kind of feeling a little at loss on how we can bridge that," a police community engagement officer explained during the presentation. The initiative uses basketball as a vehicle for building organic relationships between officers and participants.
The program goes beyond simple recreation by incorporating youth leadership development. Participants rotate through roles including DJ, referee, and team captain, giving young people opportunities to take on responsibility while developing emotional regulation skills. Youth receive jerseys provided by the Southdale YMCA and participate in team practices alongside officers.
YMCA staff emphasized that basketball was chosen deliberately because of its popularity and inclusive nature. "Basketball is a big part of why a lot of these kids come to the YMCA," a staff member said. "When you're playing basketball, a lot of different people could come together."
Early feedback suggests the program is achieving its goals. One youth participant described how interactions with officers have shifted from formal and potentially tense encounters to friendly, first-name exchanges. "It's more of a first name versus officer this, officer that," the participant said, noting that youth now greet officers they recognize from the basketball court.
The police department stated the program serves multiple purposes: keeping youth engaged in positive activities, allowing them to see officers "in a different light," and demonstrating that the city supports young people in Edina and surrounding communities.
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Cops on the Court was focused to partner us together to kind of bring this organic relationship between policing and youth because we were seeing some like an influx of incidents there and the gym was kind of feeling a little at loss on how we can bridge that.
So they get to see us and then they drop their ticket in, they sign up on their name and then they get their jerseys which the South YMCA gave to us and then we enter into the gym. There's one to two officers assigned to each team and then they start to practice through working together.
It's all about our officers being able to engage community and engage youth in particular. One to get them busy. Uh two to get them to meet our officers and see our officers in a different light and really just build out the relationships to show that you know we support our youth here in Edina and nearby communities.
Basketball is a big part of why a lot of these kids come to the YMCA. So, we just thought to have something connected to basketball, to connect the kids to a program that allows them to play basketball while also collaborating with the local police. With basketball, it's very inclusive. So, when you're playing basketball, a lot of different people could come together.
It's more of a first name versus officer this, officer that, or maybe met with aggression because they feel uncomfortable. It's more like, 'Hey, Nick, who is a community engagement officer, it was so cool to see you on Cops on the Court.'
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[Music] It's not every day that a kid gets an opportunity to drain a three-point shot over the head of a police officer. But thanks to a program called Cops on the Court, that's just one of the things that took place recently at the Southdale YMCA. Edina TV shows you more about the program that brought kids, cops, community members, and even the Chick-fil-A mascot together on the same basketball court. So, Cops on the Court was focused to partner us together to kind of bring this organic relationship between policing and youth because we were seeing some like an influx of incidents there and the gym was kind of feeling a little at loss on how we can bridge that. So we met with the gym leaders and then we came up with the idea that maybe we should just pick a sport they really love and use that as our bridge to come in. Then they see smiling faces of officers, MAC members from our multicultural advisory committee. So they volunteer with the city. They come and help with the event as well. So they get to see us and then they drop their ticket in, they sign up on their name and then they get their jerseys which the South YMCA gave to us and then we enter into the gym. There's one to two officers assigned to each team and then they start to practice through working together who are going to be the first player, how we're going to do sub outs just so we can really start working with them on how they're going to play together. Um, and then a lot of it's music playing. It's just a lot of positivity. It's a lot of fun. We have our kids who want to be the DJ, our kids who want to be the refs, our kids who want to do this. So, we kind of rotate and give them that opportunity to do it. So, we're empowering them while we're working on that emotional regulation. And it's all about our our officers being able to engage community and engage youth in particular. One to get them busy. Uh two to get them to meet our officers and see our officers in a different light and really just build out the relationships to show that you know we support our youth here in Edina and nearby communities. And we want to make sure that we're engaged with that. >> Basketball is a big part of why a lot of these kids come to the YMCA. So, we just thought to have something connected to basketball, to connect the kids to a program that allows them to play basketball while also collaborating with the local police. With basketball, it's very inclusive. So, when you're playing basketball, a lot of different people could come together. >> Everybody gets a jersey. There's teams, you know, we keep points, feed the kids every week. Uh we even sometimes have sweep steaks or Chick-fil-A coming in here to help out. I get a great chance to connect with kids, especially me being a part of the younger crowd. It's fun to, you know, get the kids to actually play team basketball. Uh, I found out I still had a little bit in me. I was able to dunk on a kid the first week. Ever since then, though, it's been a little little tough to get back up there in the air, but >> Oh my gosh, the energy is loud. It's big. You walk in and it's just non-stop smiles. It's Miss Jessica, Miss Jessica, or hey officer, can I ask you something? Can I do this? Everyone's excited, everyone wants to play. It's more of a first name versus officer this, officer that, or maybe met with aggression because they feel uncomfortable. It's more like, "Hey, Nick, who is a community engagement officer, it was so cool to see you on Cops on the Court, blah blah blah." >> Four. >> Who's left? >> And I played my game. I made a few shots and I think my team won. I'm here to like help bring back the community and stuff. They're very excited to be here and they're very nice people. So yeah, I think people should cut to these games.
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Other Topics from This Document
Youth Empowerment and Emotional Regulation
Community Safety and Police-Youth Relations
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