As emotions may be heightened towards police officers for some across America, Julian Antoine is determined to have his family be part of a solution.
“We have to do something to change things,” Antoine said. “There is no reason why people should be afraid of things that are there to protect them.”
With the approval of his wife and two kids, and a partnership with the Wilder Police Department, Antoine “adopted” Officer Kyle Boswell, with the Wilder Police Department.
“I’ve had this idea for a long time,” Antoine said. “The idea is to adopt a cop, have a relationship with this officer. Invite him over for dinner, invite him over for my BBQ, it might be a vegetarian one, invite him to a ball game.”
Both the family and officer Boswell are still working out the details as to how often they meet, but for now, they stick to the basics.
“I mainly ask what he does as a police officer and how long he’s been doing it for, and any serious situations he’s been in,” Andre Antoine, 13, said.
Andre and his brother, Julian, toured the cruiser, learned how to turn on the sirens, and shared a laugh with Officer Boswell.
“Unfortunately in this day and age, perception is sometimes reality with police, so a young kids reality is based on what he sees on tv, based on what he sees on social media,” Boswell said. “I think the greatest gift that we have is our future generations. If you can mold the future generations, you mold the future of America, and essentially the world. Not everyone can start by changing the world like that. But if I can change one life or two lives, it’s a ripple effect. So I’ll do my part here in wilder and in Campbell county and I hope and pray that other officers and other civilians can do their part.”
Boswell says he’s focused on changing that perception and hopes to show Andre and Julian, they may be just like him.
“He probably plays Xbox, I play Xbox. He likes to go home and play basketball, I do the same thing. We’re both human,” Boswell said.
The main message is already starting to stick.
“We can be friends with the people who can protect us, and I want to show an example that we don’t all have to be in fear of the policemen,” Andre Antoine said.
For now, they start local.
“The word local is very important because when there is chaos in the community, it’s the local officers that are at the brunt of it,” Julian Antoine said. “So therefore if that relationship has been established, a personal relationship, I think we’ll see less of that happening.”
Eventually, the goal is to expand this outreach further than just in Wilder.
Julian Antoine plans to launch a non-profit called the Breathe-Foundation, to inspire others to build relationships with their local officers.