Watsonville Police building connections with kids through soccer

The Watsonville Police Department is taking a new twist on community policing and it starts with a soccer ball.

The department recently started their Soccer Ball Pilot Program having officers carry soccer balls in their cars to hand out to kids they see at parks and neighborhoods and even play with them for a bit.

Officer Sergio Bañuelos says the reaction from kids when they see an officer in a full uniform can vary, “the initial reaction from them is obviously they are a little bit afraid, the uniform creates a little bit of a distance.”

Ofc. Bañuelos knows from experience, “there’s a stereo type of don’t reach out to the police cause they’re going to hurt you or discipline you and you know i grew up here I grew up with that mentality and the last thing I want is for a juvenile to be afraid of me or an officer in uniform.”

That’s where this pilot program comes in. When handing out the soccer balls, the department says they can see a difference within minutes.

“They seem very afraid at first very hesitant, and the next thing you know they’re running across the grass and kicking the ball around so it’s actually really really exciting seeing the difference from when we first get out of the car, then once we’re actually interacting with them,” says Patricia Marta, Watsonville Police departments diversion program coordinator.

And while it might just look like kicking a ball around, it’s something bigger than that.

“People could see it as a small little gesture of just giving them a soccer ball, what is that going to do? but there actually creates a connection with that kid that gets that ball and then goes and talks to the rest of the kids at school or in the neighborhood or at home and tells the rest of the kids that we’re there to help,” says Officer Bañuelos.

The program started with just two officers, now the department is planning to expand it to all day shift officers.