Growing Up In A Neighborhood Where You Don't Trust The Police

Radio Rookie Edwin Llanos grew up in New York neighborhoods where officers frequently stopped and frisked kids. Because of that, a lot of those kids didn't trust cops to help them when they needed help.

New York civil rights groups want the NYPD to change its stop-and-frisk policy. Edwin thinks such a policy change might help police gain more people's trust. He found one 2009 study by the Southern Economic Journal that suggested kids who don’t trust the police look to gangs for protection.

A few years ago when Edwin got into a tough situation, he wasn't sure who to turn to. In his WNYC Radio Rookie piece "Who's Going to Protect Me?" Edwin gives us an unflinching look into his world, and the conflicting messages that surround him when it comes to knowing who to trust for help.

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