Retired Atlanta cop runs youth program out of local barbershops to strengthen community ties

By Joanna Putman
Police1

ATLANTA — A program started by a retired cop is working to reduce crime by bringing police and at-risk kids together in barbershops, CBS News reported.

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Tyrone Dennis started the nonprofit organization Clippers and Cops in 2018 after serving in Atlanta’s gang unit for 10 years, according to the report.

“We can’t arrest our way out of some of these problems. We can’t keep doing the same things. And that’s basically what Clippers and Cops is, something different,” Dennis told CBS. “We’re not saying it’s an end-all, but it’s what we’ve decided to do to try to make change.”

Dennis explained that they discuss topics such as decision-making, goal setting, traffic stops and prison, aiming to improve interactions between youth and law enforcement. The organization operates not only in barbershops but also in classrooms, having visited over 50 schools in Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee, according to the report.

Programs like Clippers and Cops aim to enhance trust and foster a sense of community, and can reduce crime by up to 22%, according to the Atlanta Police Department.

“This is what kids need to see, people who look like me, can do, will do, and are willing to do for me,” Ingrid Simone, a participant in Clippers and Cops, told CBS.