A group of Raymond J. Fisher Middle School students spent the entire day on May 16 at a San Francisco Giants game at SBC Park. But it wasn't a school field trip or day at the ballpark with their families. The students were accompanied by the police officers they "adopted" as part of Los Gatos­Monte Sereno Police Department's new Adopt-A-Cop program.

The program was designed to foster positive relationships between police officers and middle school students, according to school resource Officer Michelle Stanfill, who spearheaded the innovative program. Eleven officers were paired with 35 seventh- and eighth-graders, who were placed into groups of three or four students per officer.

Over the course of about three months, officers took their students out to lunch at Carl's Jr., for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and on ride-alongs to get to know each other. The program culminated with the unforgettable trip to see the Giants play the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Adopt-A-Cop is one of several programs instituted by the police department, Stanfill says, intended to create more interaction between youth and police. Following the D.A.R.E. program at Los Gatos elementary schools, there's limited formal interaction between students and officers until they reach high school.

"By high school, they've already developed their own opinions," says Stanfill, adding that officers can still relate to middle school students, who are "kids at heart."

The program also came about because Stanfill and other officers like Glenn Young who work with juveniles noticed an alarming increase in risk-taking behavior at the Los Gatos middle school level. The most frequent problems with juveniles included petty theft and shoplifting, possession of alcohol, experimentation with drugs and lack of parental regulation, Young says.

"They get kind of forgotten at the middle school level," adds Young. "So this program reaches out to them."

Stanfill patterned Adopt-A-Cop after a similar program initiated by the Healdsburg Police Department. Once the program ends with the closing of the school year, Stanfill hopes the officers involved will continue to serve as mentors for the students.

Middle school can be a vulnerable age for students as they start to mature, Stanfill says, but most are not yet suspicious of or wary of cops. Stanfill believes the program will help bridge students through their high school years, while reducing the likelihood of high-risk behaviors.

Los Gatos parent Susan Katz says she's extremely glad her seventh-grade son, Jonathan, signed up for the program and that she signed his permission slip.

"I think it's a really special program—what wonderful role models the kids have," she says.

Program kicks off

The program started in March with a kick-off event at Fisher during lunch featuring popsicles donated by Safeway, a canine unit demonstration and a chance for students to meet with their designated officers.

Students were randomly assigned to their officers, outside of their normal groups so they'd meet new friends. The kick-off also created an opportunity for students not signed up to ask questions and find out more about the Adopt-A-Cop program.

Seventh-graders Amy Ahlblad and Allie Evans say they can't wait to participate if it's offered next year.

"It looks like a really fun program," Allie says. "You can ask them questions, and they'll answer them. It's not confidential or anything. Cops are our friends. Cops are there to help you."

A crowd of students gawked as, under the direction of canine Officer Sam Wonnell, "Quarz," a German shepherd, freed himself from inside a police car and lunged at Officer Erin Lunsford, taking a giant bite out of a protective sleeve on his arm. Wonnell said the presentation simulated what it would be like "taking down a bad guy." Quarz is trained to know when and who to attack on command.

"Unless I tell him otherwise, he's people friendly," says Wonnell, adding that Quarz works in narcotics and has made about 50 arrests, biting only three people.

Popular questions by students at the first meeting with officers included: "What do you do? Have you ever shot anybody? What kind of gun do you have? Have you ever killed anybody?"

While they answered such questions honestly, officers also stressed to students the importance of going to college and obtaining a good education before tackling a career such as law enforcement.

Students participating in the program received free water bottles, police department hats and blue T-shirts bearing a logo linking the words "cops and kids" by handcuffs as well as the message: "I adopted a cop."

During the low-key chat, Officer Mario Carrizosa faced a difficult task of relating to one of the quieter students in his group, seventh-grader Dillon Kern. Carrizosa adds that as the program continued, he hoped the students, especially Dillon, would open up and interact with him. Carrizosa told his students about himself, how he grew up in San Diego and attended the police academy in Monterey.

Sgt. Kerry Harris said he hoped his students—Talya Heinrich, Becky Kon, Michael Chu and Kurt Ongman—would build a relationship with him as a human being and a police officer, as someone cool with whom they could relate. He said students often have a negative sense about police officers from television shows like Cops, the media and also peer influences.

"The greatest part of this is it gives police officers and kids an opportunity to interact informally, and that's priceless," says police Chief Scott Seaman, who was wearing plainclothes at the kick-off. "It breaks down the mystery of the uniform."

Seaman says it's not always "a natural skill" for officers to be able to talk with students in a non-enforcement-type setting, and it's beneficial for them to interact with the community instead of always doing police work.

"I'm really proud of all the officers who have volunteered," Seaman says. "It demonstrates a commitment to our youth that's remarkable."

Lunches and outings

When seventh-grader Huy Mac was handcuffed by Officer David Gregg, it wasn't because he was being arrested. Huy got stuck temporarily with his officer on one of their lunch outings because Gregg didn't realize when he placed the handcuffs on Huy that he didn't have the key with him. The two had to wait for Gregg to call another officer to bring an extra key.

While Adopt-A-Cop was a success in making an impact on students like Huy, Gregg says it didn't work for all the students who signed up—not because they are bad kids, but because participants have to be genuinely interested in participating in the program for the right reasons. Some of the students only cared about the free food, hand-outs and getting out of school for lunch and ice cream. But Gregg says if police officers were discouraged with every challenge in their occupations, there's no way they'd make it in law enforcement.

Officer Joe DePrima and Stanfill took their groups of students to Carl's Jr. for lunch on the same day. Stanfill's students—including Melinda Robinson, Matt Walleen and Stanford Stickney—learned that Stanfill has a grumpy pet tortoise.

"I never thought a police officer had a turtle," Melinda says. "Sometimes there are officers that are really serious, but in this program they are really loose, and it seems like they like kids. They are really fun."

Topics of conversation ranged from pet animals and sports to braces, television shows and popular movies such as S.W.A.T., a 2003 movie based on the 1970s television show about the Los Angeles Police Department's special weapons and tactics unit. Stanfill told the students more about her job and how members of the public don't always like her when she's on duty.

"There's that day when you run into someone who is not so pleasant and they aren't happy to see you, but that's part of your job," she says. "But I'm getting paid right now to hang out with you guys. That's the best job in the world."

DePrima told his students—Rachel Kessler, Andre Romine and Casey Larson—that if people ever call 911 by accident, they usually hang up. But DePrima said they should always call back to admit the mistake and prevent a police officer from having to go out on the call. Both officers admitted that their jobs can be scary when they are searching houses for suspects and using a gun in dangerous situations.

"You're heart is pounding, and you start breathing hard," DePrima says.

Stanfill reminded her students never to lie to a police officer. She said officers are trained in interrogative situations to ask the same question in different ways, obtain both sides of a story and decipher the truth.

"In a stressful situation, when you get scared, your natural instinct is to lie," she says. "When people get nervous they initially don't want to take responsibility."

Stanford said it seemed like Stanfill had an exciting job, but thought it could get depressing dealing with "a bad rap." Stanfill said there have been many times where she's taken a "bad guy" to jail and been thanked after the fact by that person for doing the right thing.

"You can't really let it bother you," Stanfill says. "It's nothing personal. It's the uniform."

Going to the Giants game

Before Los Gatos parent Mark Robinson sent his daughter, Melinda, off to the Giants game, he warned her to wear plenty of sunscreen so she wouldn't get burned. Other parents reminded their children to hang onto any balls they caught.

Robinson says he hopes relationships formed between the officers and students would be reinforced as the students go on to attend high school.

"I think the students see that we are real people," says Officer Jon Atkinson. "They see that we can joke and laugh and screw around."

The connections continued on the one-hour bus ride to San Francisco. But before students and officers hopped on the bus, they took a tour of the police department, checking out the dispatch area, detective bureau, fingerprinting machine and helmets used in crowd-control situations. The students also experienced the inside of a holding cell firsthand, banging on the door once they were shut inside. On the tour, DePrima pointed out a photo wall of officers' family members.

"Police officers are just like your families," he told the students. "We have kids. We love our families."

The bus ride included the showing of the movie Finding Nemo as well as more time for officers, dressed in casual attire, and students to get to know each other. On the ride, 12-year-old Alex Lipka interviewed Officer Carlos Torres for a speech she'd have to give in her English class about a day in the life of a cop. Torres related to her that his most important job is patrolling.

"It prevents the possibility of crime when we go around and observe everything," he says. "It's always challenging. It's always different, but it's always fun."

Officers noted a higher maturity level in middle school girls over boys. At the game, the students were all given free plastic bats upon entering the park, but it was the boys who went wild, battling each other with them. Students like Matt Walleen also enjoyed "busting a move," dancing to music playing inside the stadium.

"It's just fun to watch the players bat and have everyone cheer," says seventh-grader Michael Chu, who didn't fully understand the rules of the game.

While some students, wearing Giants hats and shirts, said they play baseball and enjoyed being at the game, others had different motives for being there.

"I'm not really paying attention to the game," eighth-grader Rosemary Kling admitted. "I like people-watching."

The officers and cops say they benefited from the day, building new friendships and connections—even though the Giants lost. And after the program ended, officers said they hoped students would still come by the police department on their own time just to say hi.

Atkinson says he doesn't see any reason why the Adopt-A-Cop program won't continue next year and encourages a new flock of police officers and students to participate in the unique experience.