Denver Police Chief Gerald Whitman And Denver Public Schools Superintendent Jerry Wartgow today encouraged schools to organize teams of parents and community members to help keep streets safe for children going to and from school.

“Together we can make a difference in the safety of young people,” said Police Chief Whitman. “We strongly encourage parents, school administrators, teachers and community members to become involved in this program with the goal of sustaining the effort for years to come.”

Added Superintendent Wartgow: “This is an excellent example of collaboration between the city and the school district and is exactly the kind of issue - safety for children - that deserves this kind of attention. We deeply appreciate the police department’s willingness to make this effort a priority.”

The “Parent Watch / Community Watch” program trains parent volunteers to patrol school grounds and nearby streets with cell phones. Volunteers will alert authorities to anything suspicious, essentially serving as the alert eyes and ears of students walking to school. The volunteers are supported by DPD Community Resource Officers and DPS security staff.

This program was launched at Barnum Elementary School and is ready to be expanded, said Chief Whitman. All schools are welcome to consider joining the program.

At Newlon, discussion about adding the program was started last spring by Angel Valenzulea, then a fifth-grader at the school. Angel was a member of Denver SCORES, a soccer and writing program in eight elementary schools. The curriculum includes a community service project each spring and Angel latched onto improving safety at Newlon for his project, said Michelle Shedro, Education Director for Denver SCORES.

To date, seven schools are in the process of signing up for “Parent Watch / Community Watch” - Barnum, Castro, College View, Maria Mitchell, Munroe, Newlon and Schenck elementary schools.

Denver Police Department officers will visit schools to present the program to schools and parents, as well as provide information about stranger awareness. The DPD will also give each school that participates in the program two cellular phones. These phones only access 911.

Denver Public Schools will register volunteers and run a background check similar to what is provided for all volunteers today who want to work with children. The school district will also provide volunteers with yellow vests to identify the Parent Watch / Community Watch volunteers.