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Choices: Talking with Teens About Their Future · Healthier Together: Larimer County's Public Health Podcast

0:01
Welcome to Healthier Together, Larimer County's
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public health podcast, where we come together
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for healthier lives, connected communities, and
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real conversations. From your local public health
0:10
team, I'm your host, Tom. And I'm Joanna. This
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week, we're joined by Emily Humphrey, Director
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of Larimer County Community Justice Alternatives,
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to talk about youth gun violence in Larimer County
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and the work being done to address it. Emily,
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thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks
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for having me. To start, can you tell us a bit
0:29
about Community Justice Alternatives and the
0:31
work that you do? Sure. So Larimer County Community
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Justice Alternatives focuses on nontraditional
0:37
forms of incarceration. We work on accountability,
0:39
public safety, and rehabilitation. So we really
0:43
focus on reentry. So folks basically coming out
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of jail or coming out of prison and connecting
0:48
them back to resources in our programs. In addition,
0:52
we do a lot of other programs like inpatient
0:54
programs for substance use and behavioral health.
0:57
We also do pretrial. So when someone is arrested,
1:00
we kind of help them through that court system
1:02
until their case is resolved. And then we also
1:04
do juvenile transportation. So we try our very
1:07
best for juveniles to not penetrate into the
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criminal justice system any further than they
1:11
need to. So instead of having law enforcement
1:13
transport kids to and from jail or connections
1:16
with Department of Human Services, we do that.
1:19
We're all civilians, so we're not law enforcement.
1:21
We're pseudo -law enforcement, but we don't carry
1:23
guns or tasers or anything like that. So it's
1:25
a different way for handling juveniles that are
1:27
coming through the justice system. How does youth
1:30
gun violence show up in Larimer County? What
1:33
does that look like in our community? I would
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say that Larimer County is no different than
1:39
anywhere else in the world and that guns and
1:42
gun violence has kind of penetrated our entire
1:45
system. And so we have kids that are exposed
1:48
to things that maybe I didn't have exposure to
1:50
years ago. So we're kind of seeing it coming
1:52
in different facets, right? We've seen an uptick,
1:55
and I don't know whether it's becoming more common
1:57
for kids to see guns and gun violence throughout
1:59
our world. So we're looking at it a little different,
2:02
but I think kids have more exposure than they've
2:04
had in the past. How are youth in particular
2:08
impacted by gun violence in Larimer County? I
2:11
think that's hard to say. I think that's on an
2:12
individual basis. So what I would say is, It
2:16
depends on the youth, where they're coming from,
2:18
maybe their home life, maybe their exposure to
2:21
things, maybe how they feel at school and the
2:23
supports that they have. I would like to say
2:26
that, you know, Larimer County is a very safe
2:28
place to be and it is, but guns do come into
2:31
our community and kids who are young, who maybe
2:34
haven't had their brain completely developed,
2:36
you know, are more susceptible to maybe peer
2:39
pressure, things of that nature. Yeah. What work
2:42
is being done by Community Justice Alternatives
2:45
and other community partners to address youth
2:48
gun violence in Larimer County? So I'm going
2:51
to give you a little background of where the
2:52
Gun Safety Coalition began. So prior to my job
2:56
as the director of Community Justice Alternatives,
2:59
I was a prosecutor for 22 years, 18 and a half
3:02
here in Larimer County. And so back in 2018,
3:05
2019, I was in charge of the juvenile. department
3:09
for the district attorney's office. And at that
3:11
time, we had at least two deaths with kids in
3:14
firearms. And they were not gang -related. They
3:16
were kids just being kids and not responsible,
3:20
and their friends lost their lives. We were also
3:23
seeing kids that were using guns and maybe taking
3:26
them from unlocked cars or taking them from their
3:28
parents' unlocked guns lock storage area. And
3:33
they were using the guns like for drive -by shootings.
3:35
And again, not gang -related, but... You didn't
3:37
invite me to the party, so I'm not understanding
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that if I shoot into the house, the consequences
3:41
of what could happen. And they were going to
3:43
adult prison. So I was feeling very helpless
3:45
at that point in time and said, what can we do
3:47
about this? So I had the opportunity to meet
3:50
with Hava Simmons, who was part of Department
3:52
of Human Services, and she worked with family
3:54
partnerships for at -risk kids that are going
3:56
through the justice system. And we sat down for
3:58
coffee and said, what can we do? So we decided
4:01
that we were going to create a coalition. Prior
4:03
to starting that coalition, I went to every law
4:05
enforcement agency in Larimer County and said,
4:07
this is what I'd like to do, but the only way
4:09
it's going to be successful is if you support
4:10
this. So that's when we talked about what is
4:13
this coalition looking for? And that is kind
4:15
of about responsible gun ownership and safe gun
4:18
storage and giving kids a voice and then helping
4:21
the kids going down the wrong path. So law enforcement
4:23
got on board, met with all of the superintendents
4:26
as well and said, hey, this is what I'd like
4:28
to start. You know, would you be supportive of
4:30
this? And then met with a lot of community partners.
4:32
And so like the Center for Family Outreach, a
4:35
lot of different players that came to the table.
4:38
And we created this coalition. The coalition
4:40
has three pillars, which is responsible gun ownership
4:43
and safe gun storage. That's pillar number one.
4:45
Pillar number two is safe to tell, giving kids
4:49
a voice. So if they're in school and someone
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talks about a gun, what are they going to do
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with that? How are they going to have a conversation
4:54
with a trusted adult? If someone brings a gun
4:56
to school, how can we give them a voice? And
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then the third one is what I call my captured
5:00
audience, the kids that we're seeing maybe going
5:03
down the wrong path that are kind of entering
5:05
into justice system with guns. How can we change
5:07
that and turn the trajectory around? Maybe those
5:10
kids that are getting expelled, how can we bring
5:12
them back into the fold and have them come back
5:15
into school and kind of turn their lives around?
5:17
So that's kind of how the coalition started.
5:19
What does the work of the coalition look like?
5:21
Do you meet regularly? How do you work together
5:24
in partnership to do the work that you do? been
5:28
together since 2018. We've created public service
5:31
announcements. So we do meet monthly and we have
5:34
conversations about what we want to do. We have
5:36
probably given away, I'd say, close to 50 ,000
5:40
gun locks. So when people reach out to us and
5:42
say, hey, can we have a box of gun locks because
5:44
we're going to do an event, we absolutely give
5:45
them free gun locks, give them literature so
5:48
they have information to kind of move forward.
5:50
We table lots of different events. And again,
5:53
we work with law enforcement in the school districts
5:55
and our community partners and UC Health as well.
5:58
and Alliance for Suicide Prevention to kind of
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get that message out and make it relevant. So
6:02
a lot of ours is our public service announcements
6:04
and launching that. And I also want to talk about
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our curriculum because we have a class that's
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focused on our high -risk youth. So kids that
6:12
have been charged with gun charges. We have a
6:14
curriculum called Know Your Limits. And so it's
6:17
really focusing on kids and they're referred
6:19
from probation at this point, but eventually
6:21
they'll be referred by SROs, school resource
6:24
officers. They come into a six -week program.
6:26
It's three hours a week. And they really focus
6:29
on why are guns in your life? What is making
6:32
you feel like you need that? Like, what is making
6:34
you feel unsafe? Or what is the reason why you
6:37
need to have a gun? And kind of really looking
6:39
at their lives. That class or that curriculum
6:41
is provided by the coalition, but it's given
6:44
by Yarrow Collective, which is a great organization
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of lived experience folks that have been through
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the system and kind of can really relate to our
6:51
kids. You know, one question that I had for you
6:53
was, you know, the transition from prosecutor
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to CJA was probably kind of different. Can you
6:58
tell us what that transition was like for you
7:00
and why you decided to make the move? Oh, absolutely.
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So, well, you know, what's interesting is the
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criminal justice system is super important and
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every player in the criminal justice system is
7:08
equally as important. So although I was a prosecutor
7:10
my whole life, defense counsel is very important
7:13
as well. So it makes the whole circle go. You
7:16
need representation on both sides. You need the
7:18
courts, you need police, you need probation,
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all of those things. being a prosecutor was probably
7:22
one of the best things I've ever done in my life.
7:24
And I think helping victims of crime is super
7:27
important. And I think that's what gave me the
7:28
most passion, specifically when I worked with
7:30
young children. So that was wonderful. And then
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I decided to kind of take a leap of faith and
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have an opportunity when this job opened to become
7:39
the criminal justice planner for Larimer County,
7:41
as well as the director of community justice
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alternatives. So as the criminal justice planner,
7:45
I got to bring new innovative approaches to criminal
7:47
justice to our community. And so I've been able
7:50
to do projects, just like the Gun Safety Coalition.
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That's my jam. So the ability to start new things
7:56
and look at things in a different way. I have
7:58
run across people in the setting now that I'm
8:01
in that I put there, or they had come out of
8:04
prison because of a trial that I've done. And
8:06
they've done their time. They're continuing to
8:09
finish their time. But now it's our time to give
8:10
them a transition point back into the community.
8:13
So I think it just comes full circle. And it's
8:16
still my people. My people, it's my criminal
8:19
justice people. I've been here, I've been doing
8:21
it like 30 years, but 25 years in Larimer County.
8:23
And so it's just exciting to see all aspects
8:25
of the criminal justice system working. So how
8:27
did you find your people? I guess, what kind
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of drew you to law enforcement and law in general?
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Super corny that I'm going to say this, but I
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knew when I was 12 that I wanted to be a prosecutor.
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And I just never changed my mind. My grandfather
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was a judge. He actually was a defense attorney
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then. He was a judge for many years. And my dad
8:44
was a guardian at Lightham. So he was a lawyer
8:47
that handled and helped kids that were in the
8:49
Department of Human Services kind of realm and
8:51
supporting them. And I just kind of knew that
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that was the path I wanted to take. Yeah. Is
8:57
it easy for youth to access firearms in Larimer
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County? I would like to say that it isn't, but
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I don't think that's the answer. So Larimer County
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did the Healthy Kids Survey last year. And with
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that, we surveyed children within Larimer County,
9:11
and one in four said they had access to a loaded
9:14
firearm without an adult's permission. So that
9:16
kind of prompted the public service announcements
9:18
that we're going to talk about that started last
9:20
year and today was based on that Healthy Kids
9:22
survey and that kids have connections to guns.
9:25
And parents probably don't even know about that,
9:27
or a trusted adult may not understand how easy
9:30
it is for a child to access a firearm. Do we
9:33
know? That one in four, do we know where they're
9:37
accessing firearms? Is that a firearm at home,
9:41
a friend's house? Do we know how that kind of
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shows up? You know, I don't know if we know exactly
9:45
how it is. I can tell you that there's possibilities,
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right? You could have unlocked firearms in a
9:49
home. You could have unlocked firearms in someone
9:52
else's home that a child goes over to their house.
9:55
You could have friends that have contact because
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their family has access to guns. Those are different
10:00
things. I can also tell you that there are stolen
10:02
guns in Larimer County. And so sometimes that's
10:05
happening in people that aren't locking their
10:06
guns up or maybe cars where they have their guns
10:10
in and the car is not secured. So the gun is
10:12
not secured. When we first started the coalition,
10:14
there was about 801 guns stolen in Larimer County
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in a three -year period. And I can surmise there
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was about 6 ,067 vehicle trespasses in that same
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three -year period. Now, I can't correlate that
10:26
every one of them had a gun in it, but I think
10:29
statistically that's probably a little, a way
10:31
to look at it as well. You talked a little bit
10:34
about how youth exposure to gun violence has
10:38
changed over time. Has youth gun violence in
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Larimer County, have we seen any noticeable changes
10:46
over time? I think it ebbs and flows. When we
10:49
created the coalition back in 2019, we did see
10:51
an uptick of kids in accidents with guns and
10:54
kids getting involved with guns. And then it
10:56
kind of went down. I think we're seeing an uptick
10:59
and a downtick. It just kind of ebbs and flows.
11:00
And it depends. Sometimes it's in Fort Collins.
11:02
Sometimes it's in Loveland. It kind of goes back
11:04
and forth. But we're definitely seeing young
11:07
kids making decisions that are involved with
11:10
weapons. And that's not a good thing. What's
11:12
unique about how gun violence shows up or how
11:15
we address it for youth versus for adults? Or
11:19
is there a difference? Well, I think sometimes
11:22
we're afraid to talk about it. And so I think.
11:25
having that awkward conversation and actually
11:27
having really meaningful conversation with our
11:29
youth about what's happening in their lives to
11:31
really understand where they're coming from.
11:33
I think that's the opportunity to have those
11:34
hard discussions. I think as adults, we get to
11:37
make our own decisions. We get to decide what
11:39
is right for us. So I think having those conversations
11:41
about how are you feeling about this? What if
11:43
you come across someone who has a gun? Do you
11:46
feel like you could step away from that situation?
11:49
And Emily, you just mentioned that about one
11:51
in four children were able to access a... a loaded
11:54
firearm without an adult being aware of it. Can
11:58
you tell us what maybe good firearm storage should
12:00
look like to help kind of prevent those situations?
12:03
Sure. Well, I think safe, secure storage is important,
12:06
right? So a responsible gun owner knows how to
12:09
safely secure their firearm and keep that locked
12:11
up so that accidents don't happen, mistakes don't
12:14
happen, people don't take advantage of opportunities.
12:16
And I think that's the most important part is
12:18
having that education and really making sure
12:21
that you are a responsible gun owner. And it's
12:23
not political one way or the other. It's just
12:26
responsible gun ownership and safe gun storage.
12:29
So if there is a gun in the home, what should
12:31
conversations be with youth about it? You know,
12:35
I think folks have guns for certain reasons,
12:38
for protection and safety and things like that.
12:40
But I think also the responsibility that goes
12:42
with gun ownership and the gravity of what a
12:45
gun can do and what the purpose of a gun is.
12:49
I'm not sure what people are having conversations
12:50
in their home, but the hope is that they're having
12:52
conversations about the importance of using a
12:56
gun when it's appropriate, like hunting or something
12:58
like that, but not just for play or to show off.
13:02
So if a paranoid guardian owns a firearm, but
13:06
they're concerned about their child's mental
13:07
health, are there steps that they should be taking
13:09
to help keep their child safe? Absolutely. And
13:12
we have another public service announcement that
13:14
we did a few years ago called It Only Takes a
13:15
Moment. Even a responsible gun owner who locks
13:19
up their gun and teaches their kids hunter safety
13:22
and responsibility, when a child is in crisis,
13:25
that kind of goes out the window. And so when
13:27
we did our It Only Takes a Moment campaign, it
13:30
only takes a moment for a child to make a life
13:33
-changing decision to a temporary problem, and
13:35
it only takes a moment for a gun owner, a responsible
13:39
gun owner, to lock it up so that moment passes.
13:42
Because when someone is having a mental health
13:44
crisis, all of those things that they were taught
13:46
goes out the window because they're maybe not
13:48
thinking clearly because they're in that crisis
13:50
mode. So it's really, really important for people
13:52
to recognize, even if they are very religiously
13:56
strong gun owners and that have safety mechanisms,
14:00
when a child's in crisis, that's just a different
14:03
way of looking at things. The other component
14:06
to this conversation is addressing youth mental
14:08
health. And we've touched on that slightly, but
14:12
I wonder if you could just share a little bit
14:14
about ways that our community is working to support
14:16
youth mental health and how that fits into this
14:19
larger picture of addressing youth gun violence?
14:22
I think that there's a lot of incredible organizations
14:25
that are focusing on our youth and recognizing
14:27
that these come with a lot of different levels
14:30
of trauma in their life. And so really giving
14:32
them a voice and recognizing that what they're
14:34
feeling is okay and that they have the opportunity
14:38
to express themselves and to get connected to
14:40
resources. So a lot of coalition members are
14:44
strictly focused on our youth, like, for example,
14:46
the Center for Family Outreach, really focusing
14:48
on kids where they're at, getting them the mental
14:50
health and connections that they need. I know
14:52
that there's Kayak as well. There's lots of different
14:55
organizations that are really saying it's okay
14:57
not to be okay. So to have the conversation,
14:59
like, I'm not doing well today, and having folks
15:02
listen to them and not dismiss them as just,
15:04
oh, that's just teenage angst. So the coalition
15:07
recently put together two PSAs addressing youth
15:10
gun violence. One was Be Awkward, which was released
15:13
last year, and Choices was just released this
15:16
week. Can you tell us a little bit about these
15:18
campaigns and how they're different? So I'm going
15:20
to start with the Be Awkward Ask campaign first.
15:23
So when the Be Awkward Ask campaign came out,
15:26
the coalition was working on what comes next,
15:28
what are our next steps taking? And then Tom
15:30
Gonzalez, who's the director of health and environment,
15:32
approached me and said, hey. did you know about
15:34
the Healthy Kids Survey? And I said, I didn't.
15:36
And that's when we talked about the one in four
15:37
kids. And so we said, well, how can we address
15:39
this? So we were able to get funders such as
15:42
UC Health and Alliance for Suicide Prevention
15:45
and the health department, as well as a micro
15:49
grant from CDPHE. And we created this video called
15:54
Be Awkward, Ask. And it was really focusing on
15:56
parents of school children, like specifically
15:58
elementary school children. oftentimes you talk
16:01
to your kids about drugs, oftentimes you talk
16:03
to your kids about alcohol, but you don't really
16:05
have that conversation about guns, right? And
16:07
so this is a new thing. And growing up, I never
16:10
had guns in the house, so I never had a conversation
16:12
with my parents about this. So really having
16:15
that awkward conversation. So when we decided
16:17
to look at what this PSA would look at, we'd
16:19
be like, what is going to resonate with parents
16:22
and what do we want to look at? And all parents
16:24
want to take care of their children. All parents.
16:27
will hold their hand as they walk across that
16:28
crosswalk. They will put that seatbelt on when
16:31
they get in the car. They'll put that bike helmet
16:32
on when they have that child ride their bike.
16:35
All of these things to keep our kids safe, making
16:37
them wash their hands before they eat dinner,
16:40
kind of thing like that. But do we have conversations
16:42
with them about guns, about what to do when you
16:45
see a gun? And do you talk to the parents when
16:47
you drop them off for a play date? And so the
16:49
question is, do you have that awkward conversation?
16:52
Do you say, hey, I'm sorry for asking this, but
16:55
do you have guns in the house and are they secured
16:56
before my son comes over or my daughter comes
16:58
over for a play date? And having that conversation,
17:01
because it's important, because we have seen
17:03
accidents here in Larimer County where individuals
17:05
are going over to someone else's house, kids
17:07
get curious. When they get curious, mistakes
17:09
can happen. You know, the one thing that I would
17:11
say real quick is when we table events, if it's
17:14
young kids, I'll ask their parents, can I ask
17:16
them a question? and they're five and six years
17:19
old. And I'll say, well, what happens if you
17:21
see a gun? And the parents, some of them that
17:23
don't have guns, get really kind of upset with
17:25
me. And then the kiddo either hits it out of
17:27
the ballpark or bombs it completely. So the kiddo
17:30
will say, well, I'm going to run to my parent.
17:32
I'm going to go tell my mom. And we're like,
17:33
absolutely. But other kids are like, I touch
17:35
it. I pick it up. And then dad is over there
17:37
like freaking out. But the conversation is there.
17:40
And also when we talk about the be awkward ask,
17:43
a lot of parents, when they see my booth, will
17:45
walk right by me and we don't have any guns.
17:47
I said, you don't, but do you know if your neighbors
17:49
do? And so that's where that conversation comes
17:51
in. And then we always go to the Teen Self -Care
17:54
Fair, which is put on by Alliance for Suicide
17:56
Prevention every year and see incredible teens
17:58
come through about 650. And in order for them
18:01
to potentially win a skateboard, they have to
18:04
come to each booth and they have to listen to
18:05
you and then you get a stamp. And so some of
18:07
them are really good conversation pieces. So
18:09
that's where the Be Awkward Ass campaign came
18:12
into play is with that concept. And how about
18:16
choices? Very curious about that one as well.
18:18
Okay. So choices is kind of getting back to the
18:21
roots of why we started the coalition to begin
18:23
with, because when we really started the coalition,
18:25
it was really focused on the kids that were going
18:27
down the wrong direction, right? The kids that
18:29
were either potentially losing their lives or
18:32
going to prison for the rest of their life. How
18:34
can we change those kids and give them a better
18:37
pathway? And so we decided to get back to our
18:39
roots and really with that Know Your Limits class,
18:42
and then now this public service camp. So Ben
18:45
Hess from Sly Cinematic Films is our filmmaker.
18:49
He used to be a lieutenant with the sheriff's
18:50
department. And so we decided, let's go talk
18:53
to people. Let's go talk to kids and find out
18:55
what would resonate with them. So we talked to
18:58
a bunch of different kids. And I will tell you,
19:00
it was really difficult to talk to teenagers
19:02
because a lot of them just weren't buying what
19:04
I was selling. And so I was struggling a little
19:07
bit having conversations with them. And then
19:09
I looked at them because I was a little bit exhausted.
19:11
I didn't know where I was going from here. And
19:12
I said, Can I ask you a question? What do you
19:15
want to do when you grow up? And every single
19:18
kid in the room, and a lot of these kiddos were
19:20
kids that had been involved with guns, every
19:23
kid's eyes lit up. And every kid had a goal,
19:27
a goal moving forward with their lives. And they
19:30
started telling me about their goals, you know,
19:32
what they wanted to do when they grew up kind
19:34
of thing. And not one of them didn't have that
19:37
goal. So we had individuals that said, I want
19:40
to go to the Netherlands and I'm going to work
19:42
on a blueberry farm and I've already looked it
19:44
up and it's free. You just have to work for them.
19:46
Another one said, I want to be a fashion designer
19:48
in New York. And then someone said, I just want
19:51
I want to go into the military. And then she
19:53
said, and then I want to be a cop. And I was
19:55
like, OK. Then the next kid said, I want to go
19:58
to college like my dad did. And then another
20:00
kid was younger and he had just gotten removed
20:03
from the football team. And he's like, he wouldn't
20:06
look at me. And he just said, I want to. I want
20:08
to play football. So the choices video came.
20:11
So choices that as a child becomes a young adult,
20:15
they get to have more choices in their life.
20:16
They get to make decisions for themselves, not
20:19
given by their parents, not given by their teachers.
20:21
They get to make decisions, what classes I'm
20:23
going to take, what I want to do, what kind of
20:25
first job I'm going to get, you know, big things
20:27
in their life, like getting their license. And
20:30
so we decided on the choices video. And so the
20:32
choices are theirs. As they grow up, they get
20:34
to make positive choices to figure out the trajectory
20:37
of their lives. In one bad decision, one wrong
20:41
move can change that whole trajectory. And so
20:43
the choices video is just that. Talking about
20:46
choices, what do you want to do when you get
20:49
older? And putting them in an awkward situation,
20:52
such as getting in a car where someone has a
20:54
gun and they're going to go to a party. Do you
20:57
stay in the car? Do you go to that party even
21:00
though you feel uncomfortable? You don't know
21:02
what's going to happen at that party. Do you
21:04
go or do you get out of the car and you continue
21:07
on the path that you want for yourself and your
21:09
life? And that's where choices comes in. What
21:11
I will tell you is that that video is more than
21:14
just guns. It can be any conversation. So how
21:17
do you remove yourself from peer pressure? How
21:19
do you remove yourself from an awkward conversation
21:21
or an awkward situation? What if you're at a
21:24
party and there's drinking and they want to give
21:26
you a ride home and everyone's in the car has
21:28
been drinking? How do you remove yourself? How
21:30
do you call your parent? How do you have that
21:33
maybe secret word that you give to them that
21:35
says come get me kind of thing? So that's kind
21:37
of where the choices one came into play. Since
21:39
we did the Be Awkward Ask campaign, three different
21:42
health departments have reached out to us and
21:44
would like to use the campaign in their own jurisdictions
21:46
because what we've decided as a coalition is
21:49
This is just not a Larimer County issue. It's
21:52
a statewide or even a United States -wide issue
21:54
or worldwide issue. And so if they want to use
21:57
our material for their own communities, we welcome
21:59
that. So we have three jurisdictions interested
22:02
in the Be Awkward Ask. We also have another health
22:05
department that's interested in our Choices video
22:07
as well. And other police departments from other
22:09
counties have reached out to us for that as well.
22:11
So it's really important to kind of get that
22:13
message across. So what would you say the outcome
22:17
is that you're hoping for with both of these
22:19
PSAs? Our goal in launching this is not only
22:23
have law enforcement push it out, but the school
22:25
district pushed it out. So prior to both videos,
22:28
be awkward, ask, and it only takes a moment.
22:31
And then also the choices one. We met with all
22:33
of law enforcement again, showed them the video
22:35
and said, this is what we want to do. Will you
22:37
push this out? Can we push this out as a launch
22:39
together? met with all of the superintendents
22:42
and all of them said, yes, we're on board. We're
22:44
ready to talk about it. We're ready to talk about
22:46
gun violence. We're ready to talk about gun safety.
22:49
So all of them are helping us push this out.
22:51
All of the school districts, Thompson School
22:53
District, Estes Park School District, and Poudre
22:56
School District. So really excited for that.
22:58
We've also met with all of the school resource
23:00
officers. And so the hope is when the school
23:03
resource officers go in and teach classes to
23:05
the kids that they'll have this video of choices.
23:08
that they'll play it and say, what did you think
23:10
about this video? How are you feeling about that?
23:13
What do you want to do when you grow up? And
23:15
then they also say things like, you know, how
23:17
do you get yourself out of a hard situation and
23:19
just start having the conversation? Because I
23:21
think that's the most successful part of this
23:22
launch is having that conversation. What I've
23:25
always said with all of these videos, if one,
23:28
if we've saved one life in the whole community,
23:31
then we've won. So if one kid decides to get
23:34
out of the car and walk away. then the coalition
23:37
has done their job. So where can listeners go
23:40
to watch these videos and maybe learn more about
23:42
the coalition? Sure. So you can Google Larimer
23:45
County Juvenile Gun Safety Coalition and it'll
23:47
take you to that website. It's also larimer .gov
23:51
backslash CJA slash juvenile gun safety. So you
23:55
can kind of look it up there. That's the history
23:57
of our coalition that will have all of the videos
23:59
that we've done in the past. And you can kind
24:02
of take a look. If you want literature, you can
24:04
kind of reach out as well. If you need gun locks,
24:06
we're there as well. Is there anything that you
24:09
wish more people knew about youth gun violence
24:11
in general or especially here in Larimer County?
24:14
I think we had an opportunity to meet with a
24:19
pretty dynamic detective from the Denver area
24:21
who had given lots of presentations. He spent
24:25
most of his career in the gang unit and dealing
24:28
with a lot of juveniles. He gives great lectures
24:31
on how he used to police versus what he does
24:33
now in regards to gun safety and kids and understanding
24:37
why they carry guns. And I think for the public
24:40
to know that we judge the juveniles for certain
24:44
things, but maybe we don't know the background
24:46
and where it's coming from and why that came
24:49
to light. And so I think that's what I've learned
24:51
a little bit about it. Like, why does a juvenile
24:53
need to carry a gun? Is their home life not feeling
24:56
safe? Are they not safe at school? Are they being
24:58
bullied? Or are they criminal thinking? There's
25:01
a lot of different things. But I think just looking
25:03
at the whole picture before making judgments,
25:07
I guess, is my thought. Is there anything that
25:10
we didn't cover or that you wanted to add or
25:13
address? You know, I just think that having conversations
25:18
are important. Oftentimes we kind of shy away
25:22
from difficult conversations and awkward conversations.
25:25
And I think in order to keep people safe and
25:28
our community safe is having those conversations.
25:30
When you're talking about mental health, not
25:33
being afraid to say, hey, how are you doing?
25:35
It looks like you're struggling, you know, or
25:37
having those conversations like. Are you worried
25:40
about something? Tell me what you're worried
25:41
about. Or having that conversation with that
25:43
parent before you drop your kiddo off because
25:45
it's your child and you care about your child
25:47
and you care about them and you don't want accidents
25:49
to happen. So I just think that. Yeah. Awesome.
25:52
Emily, thank you so much for joining us today.
25:55
You betcha. You can find links to learn more
25:57
about the topics we discussed today in the show
25:59
notes. If you have a question about public health
26:02
in Larimer County or a topic you'd like us to
26:05
discuss, let us know. Email us at healthiertogetheratlarimer
26:09
.org. Thanks for listening, Larimer County. Until
26:13
next week, stay well, stay connected, and remember,
26:15
we really are healthier together.