ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The kick-off of St. Petersburg's Not My Child initiative was delayed by lightning Friday evening and is now scheduled to take place on June 2.

The effort is an expansion of the city's Not My Son initiative, which began in 2015 as a way to curb violence among young people.

What You Need To Know

  •  The kick-off of St. Petersburg's Not My Child Initiative was postponed Friday due to lightning

  •  It's an expansion of the Not My Son initiative and aims to spread a message of community building and anti-violence

  •  While Not My Son focused on young men, Not My Child aims to reach all St. Petersburg youth

  • The launch has been rescheduled for next Friday, June 2

"We've seen really positive relationships between law enforcement and our community members in terms of respect and sharing information, which is really important for public safety purposes," said the Rev. Kenny Irby, St. Petersburg Police Department's community intervention director. "We've seen, I like to refer to it as a melding or coming together of varying resources to deal with the complexity of challenges that are in our inner city."

Irby said each Friday during the summer, groups of canvassers will walk through different St. Pete neighborhoods to let families know about programs and resources available to young people. The goal is to spread a message of community building and anti-violence. Irby told Spectrum Bay News 9 that it was no accident that organizers scheduled the planned kick-off for the first Friday kids were out of school in Pinellas County.

"We know it's hot — kids and young people are not as directed and governed and guided in their activities," said Irby. "So, we want to get them early, catch them early and say, 'Do you have a job? What are you interested in doing? What are you trying to learn this summer, and how can we help you do that?'"

While the focus of Not My Son was young men, Irby said Not My Child will expand the program's focus to include all of the city's young people.

"The focus was young men, but it was always about the community," said longtime volunteer Clayton Sizemore. "These canvasses, coming out into the community, making people aware, glad-handing, talking to people, letting them understand, 'Listen, this is where there are some resources,' doing the different things that we've done at various events, feeding people, COVID response - things of that nature. So, we're always thinking the bigger picture. We're always doing more than just doing the canvassing."

SPPD Uniform Crime Reports show juvenile arrests have risen for the past three years — up to 745 in 2022 from 618 in 2021, and 613 in 2020. Still, officials say totals are less than half of what they were when Not My Son began.

In 2015, police made 1,659 juvenile arrests. Irby said the initiative was a key part of that decrease, along with other efforts.

"We definitely have to attribute a lot of our success to Chief Holloway's 'Park, Walk, and Talk' strategy, which is really about making positive connections during times of calm that when crisis comes, we'll be connected," Irby said. "It's also related to the kind of programs the police department has begun to positively support beyond the Police Athletic League programs, like Men in the Making, Women in the Making, Cohort of Champions, I Support Youth. There's so many programs in our community that this agency has really supported by way of speakers and role models and mentors."

Irby said there's still work to be done. On Monday, SPPD announced the arrest of a 14-year-old boy accused of shooting a 16-year-old boy at Wildwood Park on May 8. The teen was taken into custody along with four others, aged 13-15, who are accused of committing at least seven auto burglaries. 

"That's been our steady challenge area is auto theft and burglary," Irby said. "So, we are working intentionally to try to meet that level of children, and they are getting younger."

The Not My Child kick-off has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. on June 2 at Greater Mt. Zion AME Church at 1045 16th St. S.