The San Diego Police Department hosted their fourth annual ‘Cruisin’ 4 Peace,’ in Skyline Saturday.
The cruise, a caravan of low riding police vehicles, drove for an hour around Southeast San Diego before ending up at Chris Wilson Memorial Park for an open house and festivities.
“It helps break down barriers,” San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said of the event meant to help strained relations between youth and police. “We let the community know that we’re in this together and that we must work together to make sure that San Diego’s the safest largest city in the United States.”
Sergio Gonzalez who works for the youth art program Writerz Blok, which teaches students to make street art, says they are partnering with the police department to showcase graffiti art in a positive way. “Our goal is to energize youth and show them the way to do art and build a career path for them.”
The Police Department’s Southeastern Division, which held its first annual open house Saturday, will house some of the graffiti art made by students with Writerz Blok.
“There’s a lot of tension between youth and the police so our goal is to merge those two and showcase some of their artwork in the police station,” Chief Zimmerman told NBC7.
