HIGH SCHOOL BEAT : PROGRAM BRINGS TEENS, OFFICERS TOGETHER.

Byline: Alicia Doyle Daily News Staff Writer

As a teen, Rich Randolph was hesitant to join the Santa Paula Police force.

``In high school, I couldn't stand police,'' said Randolph, who pursued a life on the police force after a bad knee forced him off the football team at Ventura College.

The more serious he grew about becoming a police officer, the more Randolph wanted to convince others to reject his former mind-set.

So in 1992, Randolph spearheaded ``Cops and Jocks,'' a program that focuses on bridging the gap between peace officers and high school youths.

Participating volunteer officers are required to attend at least five games a season at their assigned school, and attend some of the practices.

``The biggest misconception about the police is that we're out just to look big and bad and to pull people over,'' said Randolph, who sold his idea to the Santa Paula Police Officers Association. ``Hopefully, this program will show that police officers are normal human beings with normal occupations.''

Now a one-year officer with the Santa Paula Police Department, the 23-year-old Oxnard resident took the program to a higher plane Friday at Moorpark High School, where a crowd of officers and high school athletes gathered for the filming of a Cops and Jocks public service announcement.

Participating in the day's filming were officers from more than a dozen law enforcement agencies, including the Oxnard Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Santa Barbara Police Department and the National Coast Guard.

Also in attendance were cheerleaders and athletes from high schools throughout Southern California, including Fontana, Moorpark, Santa Barbara, Newbury Park, Agoura, Bishop, Ojai, Camarillo and Redlands.

Mark Winn, an officer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said the program has helped him build a better relationship between him and the students he has befriended at Calabasas, Agoura and Oak Park high schools.

``They (students) learn that we're not mean people,'' said Winn. ``We're just like everybody else.''

Jackie Acuna, a cheerleader at Fontana High School, said by providing the public service announcement, students and officers can show other youngsters the importance of respecting the police.

``They're not always out to get you,'' said Acuna. ``They're there to help you.''

Probation officer Leonard Salinas said officers are often stereotyped as ``mean.''

``A lot of kids are afraid of law enforcement,'' said Salinas, who has been in the Cops and Jocks program for three years as a representative at Fillmore High School. ``This is our way to show them we are on their side, and we're not always trying to put them in jail.''

Thousand Oaks High School junior Jenny Powers said the experience taught her that officers are not that much different from other adults in her life.

``They're real people,'' Powers said.

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Photo

Photo: (color) Officers and students gathered at Moorpark H igh on Friday to film a public service message for the ``Cops and Jocks'' policing program.

Dusty Locke/Special to the Daily News