Crossroads To Success Program Guides City Youth Toward Careers

The holding cell at the New Brunswick police department was small and bare. The narrow bed had a thin mattress. Nearby was an aluminum toilet.

The time they spent in that holding cell – short as it was – left an impression on Zair Hill, Robert Veras and Gustavo Sandoval. The three New Brunswick teenagers were fortunate. They were just there on a tour. Friends of theirs have been arrested, though, and probably spent a night that same cell.

Hill, Veras and Sandoval are New Brunswick youths who plan to go in a different direction. They want to become police officers. It’s a career path that been cultivated by their participation in the Civic League of Greater New Brunswick’s Crossroads to Success Program. But it’s a career path that hasn’t been popular with some of their friends from the neighborhood.

“That’s where the Crossroads comes in,’’ said Sean Hewitt, program coordinator for Crossroads. “It’s the difference between what’s the popular decision and what’s right for you. You have to separate yourself from the crowd.’’

Crossroads targets minority teenagers – all males – who have been tagged as being at risk of getting into trouble. Some, like Veras, have track records of school suspensions and other problems. Others, like Hill and Sandoval, simply needed a nudge in the right direction.

The three teenagers didn’t seem to worry about what the guys in the neighborhood think. They see value in wearing a badge.

“I want to do what’s best for me,’’ said Sandoval, 18, who begins his freshman year at Middlesex County College in September. “When I’m looking at my future, it’s about what I think is best.’’

“I want to make my parents proud because of all the mistakes I made in the past,’’ said Veras, 17, who’s entering his junior year at New Brunswick High School.

“I want to clean up the streets and help make the community better,’’ said Hill, 17, an incoming senior at New Brunswick High School.

Most youths in the Crossroads program are pursuing careers other than law enforcement. Science, medicine and business are some of the options city teenagers are exploring.

Crossroads started about a year ago, with the support of New Jersey Health Initiatives and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Civic League works in cooperation with New Brunswick Public Schools, the New Brunswick Hub Teen Center and New Brunswick Tomorrow’s School-based Youth Services program.

Under a three-year grant, the Civic League expects between 120 and 150 youths to go though the program in 10- to 12-week cycles. With an emphasis on academic performance and social development skills, the youths meet regularly one-on-one with their mentors, hold bi-weekly group meetings, go on field trips like camping and sailing to broaden their horizons, attend an “overnight connector” with community leaders and visit job sites related to their potential careers.

“For the most part, they’re good kids, they just need some guidance,’’ said Hewett.

Hill, Veras and Sandoval took their tour of the city police headquarters back in May with the help New Brunswick Police Lt. Michael Bobadilla. In addition to the holding cell, they were also impressed by the communications room, which has rows of video screens from closed circuit cameras and a bank of radios and phones where law enforcement personnel dispatch police officers to reported incidents.

“I knew I wanted to be a cop when I saw that,’’ said Veras.

In late July, Sandoval was able to accompany Lt. Bobadilla on a patrol of the city streets. While Sandoval watched from the patrol car, the officers handled a hit-and-run accident, stopped a couple of vehicles and issued summonses and picked a man from the street who was wanted on a warrant.

It was pretty much a routine night for the police officers. But Sandoval was fascinated by the way the officers explained what they saw as they patrolled the street and how they looked for signs of trouble.
Hill and Veras also will go on the ride-along, after they turn 18.

Sandoval and Veras have been friends for more than six years. They’ve seen growth in each other since they’ve gone through the Crossroads program. “He keeps me out of trouble,’’ Veras said. “He’s changed a lot,’’ said Sandoval.