MEET THE
CLARKSVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT
JUVENILE ENGAGEMENT TEAM
Pictured Left to Right: Sergeant Arthur Bing (JET Supervisor), Officer Tajee Moore, Officer Colin Adair, Officer Anthony Rodriguez, Captain Chad Koyama, Officer MarShun Cox and Officer Christopher Angol. Not pictured are Officer Dylan Lawrence (Community Relations Unit), Officer Ariana Prather (Community Relations Unit), Officer Dallin Bridges (Community Relations Unit) and Sergeant Johnny Ransdell (Community Relations Unit Supervisor)
By Kaitlan McLaughlin The Clarksville Police Department recently welcomed in a new initiative to its already extensive outreach program list. The initiative is officially named the Juvenile Engagement Team (J.E.T.), which is directly aimed to serve the juveniles within the Clarksville community. J.E.T. was introduced to the Clarksville Police Department through the Community Orientated Policing Services Office in 2020. This grant allowed the department to hire nine additional officers who are tasked to engage the juvenile community within Clarksville; which ties directly into both their mission statement and team goals. Their mission is to work citywide in the hopes of preventing juvenile crime and violence by building stronger relationships between local youth, law enforcement, and the community through positive interaction and engagement. J.E.T. Officer Tajee Moore explained, “I feel it is extremely important for me to give the youth all the tools I have learned growing up so they can be successful. I grew up in Clarksville, going to middle school and high school here, and I see that there are people I grew up with that were desperate for help and unable to receive it
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as children. As adults, those same individuals are stuck in a never ending cycle of not actually pursuing what they dreamed of, and forced to live a life where they regret not chasing those dreams and goals they once had. I feel that it is my calling to build relationships with the children of our community and impress upon them that there is way more to life than what you see other adults doing. I am here and the J.E.T is here to help them reach their goals.” J.E.T. Officer MarShun Cox added, “We are interested in regularly meeting with youths and or juvenile offenders in our community suffering from substance abuse, mental health issues, behavioral or conduct problems and dealing with anger management. Reaching out to our various local facilities with Juvenile groups and clients seemed like a great idea to me. I want youths to be more comfortable with law enforcement and feel like they can rely on us no matter their situation, background, or what they’re dealing with in life.” W ith engagement plans and ideas already underway, J.E.T. aims to achieve set goals that are already in