The City of Greer Police Department continues to reach out to the community in unique ways, including through Project Safe Neighborhoods, which focuses on gun and gang violence.
“We were able to brainstorm on ways to not only get the gang awareness and gang prevention material out to the attendees but also make it fun,” Detective Marc Cappa said.
Detective Marc Cappa developed the upcoming “Forward Festival” with the hopes to reach the Hispanic population in Greer.
“Statistics show that Hispanic children are at higher risk of joining gangs so the idea is that we want to be proactive,” Cappa said.
“Outside of gang awareness from a police standpoint there will be other resources there for the Hispanic community that will be present,” Officer Christian Ruiz said.
Officer Christian Ruiz is the school resource officer at Abner creek Academy.
“It makes the parents feel more comfortable knowing that there’s someone at least within the school system that looks like them,” Ruiz said.
Information at the event will be presented in both English and Spanish, and officers want the Hispanic population to know what resources exist for them.
“Providing information for them, letting them know the Greer police department regardless of whatever situation they find themselves in, we are there to help,” Ruiz said.
Forward Festival is on Friday, September 15 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Cannon Centre.
“For attendees to just expect to come and have a good time and just be open minded to the material presented by officer Ruiz,” Cappa said.