SFTC: TORONTO POLICE ENLISTS LOCAL RAPPERS TO RECORD AN ANTI-VIOLENCE POLICE OFFICER PROGRAM PSA.

Photos courtesy of Toronto Police service

The Toronto Sun's Crime Reporter Chris Doucette spotlights a story unheard of. Rappers teaming up with local police to foster a better community. The Toronto Anti－Violence Intervention Strategy is a Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services provincially funded initiative, dedicated to creating and maintaining sustainable, safe neighbourhoods. TAVIS initiatives are operating in all of the 17 Toronto police Divisions and are supported by every unit in the Service.

The key message for this TAVIS PSA is that TAVIS officers are there to help the community, not harass them. TAVIS officers listen and talk with community members and the goal is to work together and basically the two parts to TAVIS is community building and enforcement.

One by one, Gilly Gadan, Linkx, NES, Berg Beauge, Jay Stackz, David a.k.a. D, and Kadar Star busted rhymes for TAVIS, urging people to “trust” and “help” police.“I couldn’t believe the things they were saying,” Mills said excitedly. “I was just blown away!”He believes the messages were more powerful than any ad police could have produced on their own. The rappers’ contributions will be woven together and cut down to two 30-second spots, slated to air May 31 on Z103.5 and FLOW 93.5.But Mills was so impressed, he plans to post them in their entirety on youtube.com/torontopolice. While getting the rappers to say “all the right things” was easy, Mills said convincing them to work with cops may have been impossible if not for the help of crime victim advocate Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo.

She put the call out for rappers on her highly popular music blog, Hip-Hossip, and had 700 responses. But that number dwindled to just a handful when she explained cops were involved.“I screened them to be sure they were sincere,” she said. “I didn’t want anyone who was only doing it just to boost their career.” However, as a Canadian correspondent on a new hip-hop show called The Deal on BET, she plans to reward the volunteers by giving them some exposure.Omololu-Olunloyo said the young men who participated have had trouble with the law to varying degrees, but she believes that gives them more credibility with the youth.

“These are all positive guys who have turned their lives around,” Omololu-Olunloyo said.She actually helped mentor one of the rappers, Gilly Gaden, after meeting him “on the block” near Jane St. and Wilson Ave.“I was living the fast life, selling drugs and pimpin’,” he explained. “But music changed my life.”

You must read the whole story here and watch the video

It is always a pleasure helping the Toronto Police find positive role models out there.