Promotional Image: In 2012, UHCL Professor of Criminology Everett Penn and Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Brian Lumpkin founded the Teen and Police Service Academy (TAPS) to bridge the divide between at-risk youth and law enforcement. Nearly three years later, the program has expanded to cities around the nation and in other countries, changing lives along the way. The image links to http://uhclthesignal.com/wordpress/tapspage/ - the special topic page examining TAPS. Photo by The Signal reporter Travis Pennington. — In 2012, UHCL Professor of Criminology Everett Penn and Houston Police Department Assistant Chief Brian Lumpkin founded the Teen and Police Service Academy (TAPS) to bridge the divide between at-risk youth and law enforcement. Nearly three years later, the program has expanded to cities around the nation and in other countries, changing lives along the way. Photo by The Signal reporter Travis Pennington.

Conference connects TAPS teens and Hawks

By Priscilla Juarez Last updated Apr 20, 2016 126 0

One of the programs being showcased at the 22^nd Annual Student Conference for Research and Creative Arts (SCRCA) Wednesday, April 20, is the Teen and Police Service (TAPS) Academy. TAPS was created by UHCL’s Everett Penn, associate professor of criminology and co-founder of TAPS, along with the Houston Police Department, in an effort to strengthen relationships between law enforcement and at-risk teens.

The Teen and Police Service Academy presentation and poster session will be held in Atrium 1 of the Bayou Building from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

TAPS is an 11-week program with a curriculum that includes classes on conflict resolution, safe driving, drugs and alcohol penalties, and ends with a reflection session.

Five to 10 students from Lee High School’s TAPS Academy program will participate in Wednesday’s event, which will feature handmade posters the students created to demonstrate their experiences and relationships with police officers and the TAPS program.

The TAPS program has been featured in the SCRCA for several years and, like in previous years, the main focus of participating in the conference is to expose the students to a college-campus environment and inspire them to continue their education.

“The impact students have coming to this conference is them having the opportunity to be exposed to a university setting,” said Megan Harper, TAPS director of summer programs. “This allows for opportunities to show the kids that continuing their education is a real possibility and showing them that they can make a positive impact in their community.”

Approximately 20 students from Lee High School’s TAPS Academy program, including the student presenters, will visit and tour UHCL. For many, it will be their first time stepping on a college campus.

“That moment they get out of the car/bus, I like that,” Penn said. “That’s when you’ll hear them [TAPS students] say, ‘I’m going to college’ or ‘this is my first time on a college campus,’ so we try to make it special for them.”

The SCRCA is a free event open to students, faculty, staff and the general public.

Follow #SignalCAST and #SCRCA for live coverage of the TAPS presentation and poster session, as well as other SCRCA events throughout the week.