Sunday on News 2 Today, Sgt. Charity Prosser and Detective Jamel Foster spoke about gaining trust of accused criminals in order to give them a second chance at a productive life.NORTH CHARLESTON, SC -
In a nationwide broadcast, Dateline captured the journey of criminals trying to reform through North Charleston Police Department's STAND and the police officers struggling to work with them instead of against them.
Sunday on News 2 Today, Sgt. Charity Prosser and Detective Jamel Foster spoke about gaining trust of accused criminals in order to give them a second chance at a productive life.
"I'm a cop not a social worker," Prosser said, admitting she was most skeptical about the program.
Prosser and Foster mentored eight men through the program which provided an intense job training and betterment intervention.
As Dateline Sunday captured, these men can make more selling drugs than with a full-time job, a difficult challenge for cops trying to teach right from wrong, and emotionally draining when not everyone is a success story.
"They came a long way from the start of the program to fall back to the streets and selling drugs, it was very hurtful," Foster said.
However, the opposite is true when discussing those who are successful as a result of STAND. "If we can help one of these guys with children, that's a ripple effect throughout generations. They have their daddy there to help them grow up and teach them the best ways to become men and women. So, that ripple effect is the most outstanding part of this program," Prosser said.
