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A recent grant from the Tioga Downs Regional Community Foundation will expand Binghamton University Youth & Police Initiative (YPI) programming that builds trust and breaks down stereotypes between local youth and police.
YPI programming is held across the nation. Initiated locally in June 2022, and funded by many supporters, the program aims to enhance positive relationships between police and 13- to 18-year-old youths in the Binghamton and Johnson City school districts.
The grant will support workshops, post-workshop programming to promote longer-term connections, and the second-ever YPI summer conference at Binghamton. YPI activities include teambuilding exercises, games, role-playing scenarios and more. During the conference, the youth go on campus tours and get a glimpse of college life, in addition to participating in other YPI programming.
To date, 62 youth have completed the Binghamton YPI program. That number is expected to total 167 by June 2025, thanks to donor support.
“Becoming a certified trainer for the YPI program has been an amazing experience for me, and it is something that I am very passionate about. I have learned so much from the program and from the youth that has helped me to become a better person, co-worker and police officer,” said Steve Faulkner, lieutenant with New York State University Police at Binghamton and YPI project lead. “This program has already made a positive impact over the last year and a half since we first brought it to our area. As it continues to grow and expand, it will have even more of an impact. The more officers and youth we get involved, the better our community as a whole will become.
“The local community is very important to our University since we not only have buildings in these areas, but a lot of our students, faculty and staff also live in these areas. We must help to build better relationships between the community and the police to make the community a safer place for all those living, working and visiting the area.”
“We recognized how important this was for our surrounding communities,” said Jill Teeter, executive director of the Tioga Downs Regional Community Foundation. “We saw the tremendous amount of work that is being done to strengthen the relationship between police and our youth. The financial requirements to continue moving forward with a project like this are extensive, and our ability to help is what our foundation is all about.”
