Michigan students will again benefit from the addition of 36 police officers trained in the Teaching, Educating, and Mentoring (TEAM) School Liaison Program. The Michigan State Police (MSP), Grants and Community Services Division hosted the four-day training, which concluded Thursday, May 25, 2023.
TEAM is a school-based, law-related curriculum that is taught to grades K-12 by TEAM-trained police officers with the goal of uniting educators, students, and law enforcement officers to better equip children to protect themselves from crime. During the course, officers receive instruction in student/juvenile psychology, legal issues, classroom management, and presentation skills/public speaking.
In addition to traditional topics like personal safety, how to dial 911, the law and you, and dating violence, the TEAM curriculum has been updated to address the topic of school safety and security including facility assessments, bullying and harassment, cyber-crime, social media use, illicit drugs, and vaping.
This class included two officers from MSP, 12 from county sheriff’s offices, 23 from township/city police departments, and one from a local school district. Agencies represented are listed below:
• Allen Park Police Department
• Battle Creek Police Department
• Benzie County Sheriff’s Office
• Clinton Community School District
• Coldwater Police Department
• Colon Police Department
• Decatur Police Department
• Eastpointe Police Department
• Farmington City Police Department
• Genesee Township Police Department
• Gerrish Township Police Department
• Grand Blanc City Police Department
• Hillsdale City Police Department
• Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office
• Imlay City Police Department
• Ingham County Sheriff’s Office
• Jackson County Sheriff’s Office
• Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office
• Lincoln Park Police Department
• Michigan State Police – Caro Post
• Michigan State Police – Wakefield Post
• Milan Police Department
• Montague Police Department
• Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office
• Newaygo County Sheriff’s Office
• Otsego County Sheriff’s Office
• Plainwell Department of Public Safety
• Plymouth Township Police Department
• Portage Department of Public Safety
• St. Joseph Department of Public Safety
• Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department
• Vassar Police Department
TEAM allows officers to teach at any of the three levels of education - elementary, middle, or high school - public or private - aligning with the Michigan Model for Health. The curriculum has been implemented in over 250 Michigan school districts
