LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD; POLICE, ATHLETES HUDDLE UP.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

On patrol in Newbury Park a few years ago, sheriff's Deputy Greg Sharp looked forward to visiting youngsters in school.

``When we'd go to the elementary schools, we were heroes. Everyone loved us. And in the intermediate schools they still had that positive buzz about `The police are here,' '' said Sharp, now an officer with the anti-drug DARE program in Thousand Oaks.

``Unfortunately, when I would go to the high schools, there would be a real cold atmosphere toward the police. The only time these kids ever saw us on campus was when there was some negative contact, someone had done something wrong.''

Since then, Sharp and other Ventura County officers have been countering those high school chills with a program called Cops 'n' Jocks, building trust between teen-age athletes and police by bringing them together on a level playing field.

``When other students would see the jocks talking to an officer, they'd think he can't be that bad,'' said Sharp. ``It breaks down barriers.''

The program's all-volunteer force has seen results ranging from teens helping with investigations to students who go on to become officers themselves.

In six years, Cops 'n' Jocks has gone from an idea of a Santa Paula Police Department reserve officer to a nationwide program that has touched hundreds of teen-age athletes in many sports.

There are now about 200 high school teams from California to Pennsylvania using the program, according to the program's founder and director, Rich Randolph, a Santa Paula police reserve officer.

The California Department of Justice recently named Cops 'n' Jocks the state's nonprofit crime prevention program of the year.

``It's just grown like crazy,'' Randolph said, recalling how the program received nationwide attention after it was written about by the Washington-based Community Policing Consortium two years ago.

Randolph said he was inspired to start the program by his own experiences with police as a teen attending Santa Clara High School.

``I hated cops,'' he said. ``I was never really a bad kid, but I didn't care too much about them. They were always rassling you or pulling you over or acting macho. I had my share of traffic tickets.''

Randolph said his attitude toward police underwent a dramatic change while he was working as an 18-year-old private security guard at the Rodney King beating trial in Simi Valley.

``I was surrounded by cops and got to know them on a first-name basis,'' he said. ``When the verdict went down, I was just amazed with the turnout of people and how badly they treated the officers out there. Just because of what the four officers did in L.A. doesn't mean they're all bad.''

Recognizing the power of face-to-face meetings to dispel prejudice and drawing on his love of football, Randolph conceived of Cops 'n' Jocks.

It wasn't an immediate hit for the former defensive tackle.

Some police agencies scoffed at what they thought was a college project for Randolph, who in fact was studying criminal justice at Ventura Community Hospital at the time.

But Santa Paula police officials took him seriously and, through their Police Officers Association, put up the $1,000 to get tax-exempt, nonprofit status for Cops 'n' Jocks.

It was not smooth sailing for the first volunteer either - a Santa Paula police detective who introduced himself to the football team at the local high school.

``Everyone was just dogging him,'' Randolph said. ``At first the kids were kind of standoffish like `Why is this cop here?' It took that first officer five to six weeks for the kids to start coming around.''

Among reasons for the program's widespread acceptance are its low cost and often lasting results.

Randolph and a staff of six volunteers coordinate the budding national program on a $1,800 annual budget, $1,000 of which is donated by the Police Officers Association of Ventura County.

This money covers overhead for an office at a shuttered high school in Oxnard and to reimburse officers who sometimes drive hundreds of miles to see their team play out of state.

About 55 police officers in Ventura County have become involved, which represents the majority of these volunteers in California. Nationwide, the program has about 200 volunteers.

Usually the program takes root in a community when an officer gets permission of school officials and coaches to ``adopt'' a high school team.

This entails introducing oneself, attending regular practices and developing a rapport with players.

When the program first started, football teams were volunteers' top choice, Randolph said. Now, basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, wrestling and other teams are affiliated with police volunteers, a growing number of whom are female officers working with women's teams.

The program has also caught on because of its adaptable format. Agencies on the East Coast are taking it to the junior high school level. The first college to adopt the program is Ventura Community College.

Some officers become volunteers because they have kids on the team. Others become coaches in addition to mentors.

Reaching out to teens is serious business, but it is sometimes done with humor.

Officers have been known to roll code three - lights and sirens blaring - to deliver donated pizzas or hamburgers to their teams, Randolph said.

A sheriff's deputy in full SWAT gear once landed via helicopter to present a player-of-the-week award to an Oak Park High School football player, he said.

Officers often set up patrol cars behind the end zone of their football team's field and fire up the lights and siren when a touchdown is scored.

Such a display of team pride backfired for the Ventura County California Highway Patrol when a fan at a Ventura High School football game, unaware of the Cops 'n' Jocks program, complained that such a use of police equipment was inappropriate and a waste of taxpayers' money, Randolph said.

The resulting fallout, what Randolph calls ``the nastiest thing we ever went though,'' caused the Ventura County CHP to withdraw from the Cops 'n' Jocks program two years ago.

Other concerns have arisen as well.

Citing potential liability and the need to pay officers, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department does not allow its deputies to wear uniforms when doing volunteer work.

These are also concerns for the Simi Valley Police Department, which remains the only Ventura County law enforcement agency not involved in Cops 'n' Jocks.

Simi Valley Police Chief Randy Adams said he would like to join the program soon.

``I think what Cops 'n' Jocks stand for is admirable,'' he said. ``We have a number of people who are very interested in the program, but we have to work out these issues before we can get involved.''

At least two athletes who were touched by the program have gone on to become police officers for the Ventura and Oxnard departments.

Joe Gosser, 19, was a wide receiver at Hueneme High School when he came into contact with a Cop 'n' Jocks volunteer. He said he struck up a lasting friendship with Port Hueneme police Officer Mike Frederico and, after graduating last year, is now a reserve officer with the department.

``Since I've done it, I've had two friends who are in the reserve academy, and I've even gone back to school to take part in Cops 'n' Jocks,'' he said.

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Photo: (Color) Thousands Oaks High School football players Scott Ange, left, and Charles Soodavar talk with a sheriff's deputy before a practice.

Tina Gerson/Daily News