9 Investigates

CMPD officer uses his own arrest to help troubled teens

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer has created a successful summer enrichment program for local teenagers.

The Summer Exposure Experience is in its second year at Turning Point Academy.

In a 9 Investigation, Officer Reginald Richardson was candid about overcoming a personal challenge in his own life that now helps him connect on a different level with students.

Even though school is out, more than a dozen young men are still engaged on their campus, spending quality time as part of SEE.

The program is an idea turned into a reality for Richardson, who has always wanted to give back to young people calling it a, “mission from God.”

“I want to take the kids out into the community to do some different service learning projects, murals, poetry, entrepreneurship, workshops and music,” Richardson said. “For example, I want to take them to places like the Harvey B. Gantt Center not just for the art, but to actually understand, what is art and what are the jobs behind it. I want to expose them to as much as possible and to build relationships.”

SEE is thriving now. But three years ago, the school resource officer was derailed.

Richardson was arrested in May 2014 and charged with DWI, child abuse and failure to restrain a child.

He said he was off duty in uptown Charlotte when a stranger tried to pick a fight by using a racial slur.

Richardson said that he calmly talked to the man and then decided that it was best to leave.

A short time later, he was pulled over. He said a young cousin in his vehicle had partially removed her seatbelt.

“I just wanted to get out of there and didn't think, ‘Hey man, you substituted at school earlier and you didn't eat all day. This beer you just had is still in your system. Why get behind the wheel period? Yes, you were thinking smart to leave and doing the right thing to talk to the young man, but could you have called a ride and done something different not to put yourself or your family in that position?’” Richardson said.

“It hit me at that moment that you have got to understand what you are doing and the position that you are in, and at that moment, I made it my turning point,” Richardson said. “I realized that I had let my department down, fellow officers, the school, the students, my family and God.”

Richardson said all the charges against him have been dropped. He was suspended from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department without pay and had to work his way back to his previous role.

With encouragement from his supervising officer and the department, he said he had to start over working on patrol for more than a year before eventually returning to his school resource officer position at Turning Point Academy.

Because Turning Point Academy is a Charlotte-Mecklenburg alternative school and suspension center, Richardson said the campus and its students get a “bad rap.”

“I want these kids to go in the right direction,” Richardson said. “Yes, you are here, but look at the name of it, Turning Point. So you don't have to let your decision or reason for being here define who you are.”

Richardson said that 94.5 percent of the students at Turning Point are African-American and about 90 percent of them are African-American boys. His goal is to empower them and reduce that number by working with the students over the summer.

Brothers Andrew and Ezekial Mayfield have used the tools that they learned at Turning Point Academy and in the SEE program to do a 180.

“In my past, I used to be bad. I had a bad attitude and had anger issues. But since I've been here, I've learned to control it and to be better and smarter,” Ezekial said.

Ezekial, 15, said he wants to be a football player, entrepreneur or veterinarian when he grows up. He said Richardson kept him on the right track by “staying on his case.” Ezekial said the time that Richardson spends with him makes him feel “special.”

Andrew Mayfield, 16, is a talented poet. He said that through working with Richardson at Turning Point Academy and SEE, he rekindled a love of writing that he had in middle school. He hopes to turn it into a career. He said his poetry is about the struggle that he and his family experiences every day.

“Officer Richardson is cool. He's my buddy,” Andrew said.  “He's been through the same thing I have. He's no different than me, so I can do the same thing that he has done to change it.”

Parents like Crystal Mayfield said that it is empowering for their children to have another positive influence to help them along the way.

“Once Officer Richardson stepped in, he was like their mentor and big brother and they listened to him real quick,” Mayfield said.  “He calls and stops by and checks on them when needed, and I thank him for that!”

Richardson said it does break down barriers when he tells a kid that he was in their position recently.

“But I tell them to focus on what I have done since then and what I am doing for them too,” Richardson said. “It makes them realize that I am not a superhero and that we are all human and that we should not only work our way back from challenges – we should also push to be even better than before.”

Richardson said that it is all about building relationships and not judging a book by its cover.

He wants others in the community – volunteers and businesses – to join in the work of supporting the teens at Turning Point Academy.

“Come inside. See and understand what we have here and be exposed and you'll come away with an experience that will definitely make you want to come back and help these youth,” Richardson said.

He added that the eventual goal is to develop a really successful program so that he can then speak with his chain of command at CMPD to discuss opening the program to all the SROs for development throughout CMS.

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