Mission Live Bait Theater was founded in 1987 to produce new work by emerging Chicago playwrights and solo artists. We choose work that employs a rich and compelling use of language, explores unusual subject matter, and strongly emphasizes the visual component. We seek out diverse artists who find inspiration in a wide variety of life experiences and artistic points of view. In our seventeen-year history, we have produced over 80 world premieres. Our outreach programming, Bait, Hook, and Link, was established in 1993 and was designed to focus on issues of literacy and artistic expression. The History of the Police Teen Link Program Police-Teen Link is a program that links police officers and local teens through shared creativity at the middle school and high-school level. This is done through a weekly improvisation and creative writing class, as well as field trips to cultural events. Police Teen Link is part of Live Bait Theater’s Bait, Hook, and Link programming. Police-Teen Link is a pilot program with two goals--to offer acting/improv classes to police officers with an interest in theater, and to link these officers with local teens. Through this shared creativity we hope to foster understanding, provide a unique mentoring opportunity, and give access to arts education and expression. The Chicago Police Department first contacted Live Bait Theater in 1999. Because of our active participation in CAPS and our reputation for creating new work, they asked if we could create a play on the theme of teen crime to tour in Chicago Public Schools. We countered with an idea to bring together officers and teens in order for them to write their own script, utilizing theater games as a way to stimulate their imaginations. We placed a notice in the Daily Bulletin and over fifty officers responded and expressed interest. Many of the officers we spoke with wanted to do something beneficial for youth and were eager to show the positive side of their profession. The first class we offered was creative writing. The quality of the stories and insights of the officers was remarkable. This first contact made us realize that the department was filled with hidden potential. Another crucial aspect of Police-Teen Link is creating partnerships with neighborhood organizations. We have partnered with various social agencies such as the Chicago Police Department (a very distinctive organization, to say the least), the school system, local clubs, and other cultural neighborhood facilities. It is through these partnerships we have learned, too, that the arts can bring together unlikely participants and organizations and create different methods of communication. With high schools in need of more funding for cultural programming, teens need access to the arts more than ever. The most important institutional partner of Police-Teen Link is the Chicago Police Department, as well as the civilians in city government whose duties include crime prevention. The Chicago Police Department has given its approval to the program, sends representatives to performances and classes, and offers advice on making the program serve the needs of the police officers. Program director Sharon Evans has met with hundreds of police officials, as well as community and city groups to better determine ways Police-Teen Link could work with different districts. She and the teaching staff have recruited officers at their daily roll calls and toured local police districts to better understand the police officers involved. Goals and Potential Uses of Police-Teen Link - As a means of easing tension between police officers and local teens - To provide the arts as a vehicle for personal enrichment and understanding - To facilitate partnerships with neighborhood organizations, social agencies and the Chicago Police Department New applications of Police-Tot Link We have begun integrating Police-Teen Link into Live Bait's ten-year-old Uptown Library story-telling program for pre-schoolers. P.O. Tom McNamara spoke to us about the need for very young children to feel comfortable with the police. He talked about how in the course of his job, younger children often need help and are frightened of the police. We then had the idea to involve him in our Uptown Library story-telling program, which focuses on pre-school children. We have always had men as storytellers as a way for the children in a home with a single parent (mother) to receive attention from father figures. What better way to have young children to view officers in a positive light, as to present them as nurturing and non-threatening figures. In addition to our standard story-telling and linguistic exercises, the children now engage in conversation about safety and crime prevention. For example, recent sessions have included Identity: Knowing Your Full Name, Address, and Phone Number, Identifying Police, and Street Safety. At the end of the hour the P.O. allows the children to look at his or her badge. Conclusion One of our participating teens explained that part of the appeal of the program is that it creates a place where the officers and the teens are equal. Both risk embarrassment when they perform in front of the class, and each is reliant on the other for the scene to succeed. The classes allow both groups to invent different ways of relating. The officers enjoy the positive interactions with the teens, as well as cultivating their own creativity. The kids are in need of mentoring; the officers enjoy the positive contact with youth. The officers and teens have pride in the new artistic skills they have learned. Personal friendships have developed between the group members and lead artists. It has also stimulated professional and personal opportunities. Officer Milton Scott was recruited to act in training films for the department. The department has given commendations to officers for their participation; in the future the department may even award a ribbon for exemplary community service. This may make it easier to recruit officers to be part of our program as we expand our classes in the future. In its first year, Police –Teen Link received coverage on WTTW's "ArtBeat," and CNN, Channel 7 as well stories in USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune. Because of the extensive coverage we have received calls from Police Departments from all over the country eager to start similar programs in their cities. For information on how to start a Police-Teen Link in your community, please call us at (773) 871-1212.