Focus Hope teams up with volunteers to patrol around 2 Detroit Schools

DETROIT (WXYZ) - “I don’t know, things are kind of hectic today,” says David Wimberly, whose son attends Central Collegiate academy.

Wimberly drops him off as often as possible, because he knows the world his vastly different from the days he was a teenager.

These days going to school can be hazardous to your health.

Across the country safety is a major concern for parents and students alike, but for students of Detroit’s public schools, safety is an even greater concern.

So to help students at Durfee Middle School and Central Collegiate Academy focus on learning, Focus: Hope is teaming up with volunteers from various communication organizations, as well as the Detroit Public Schools Police Dept.

The volunteers will be walking and riding the streets around the schools providing a priceless commodity; peace of mind.

“We’ll begin patrolling from 2 o’clock to 4 o’clock in the evenings and from 7 o’clock to 9 o’clock in the morning and that’s normally when there is an uptick in violence,” says Galen Hardy.

Hardy is with Focus: Hope. He’ll be working with residents from the North End Neighborhood Watch and the Central North End Woodward School Patrol to provide security to students at the nearby middle and high school.

Starting Wednesday they plan to be a very visible presence on the streets around the two schools and they are hoping more will join the effort.

David Wimberly couldn’t agree more. “You have to have somebody looking out. We need to look out for each other," he says.