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Posted: Saturday, 31 October 2009 8:13PM
Safe Passage introduced to South Shore neighborhood
Bob Roberts Reporting
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CHICAGO (WBBM) -- Extra eyes and ears are watching and listening for trick-or-treaters this Halloween in the South Shore neighborhood.
They're not ghosts and goblins, they're Safe Passage volunteers.
It's an ingenious way to introduce the neighborhood to the Safe Passage program, which normally helps to assure that children can get to and from school without trouble, and to report any problems volunteers do see to police.
More than 50 volunteers, clad in bright orange T-shirts and stocking caps, are handing out Safe Passage materials and watching for trouble in the area around the Bouchet School, at 7355 S. Jeffery Blvd.
Organizers said they have a volunteer list of more than 150 adults already and hope to attract many more through the Halloween activities.
Black United Fund of Illinois President Henry English said that the number of Safe Passage volunteers has increased dramatically since the Sept. 24 beating death of Fenger High School honors student Derrion Albert. He said parents at many schools want to prevent anything similar from happening.
Safe Passage does not advocate intervention, unless a child is "being stomped or snatched," English said. Instead, it relies on a network of team leaders, a call dispatch center and calls to 911 when danger is imminent.
The volunteers at Bouchet received brief training from Safe Passage team leaders before being sent out Saturday.
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