[{"_1":2,"_98":-5,"_99":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,74,86],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":44,"_46":47,"_48":49,"_50":51,"_52":53,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":59,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},"mediaId",6098473,"mediaKeyId","2823619-8da7f4a79554e194891027678eb19742","parentId",2823619,"title","Grow 1,000 summer jobs: city-backed program seeks 130 placements, paid orientation and training for youth","audioSeconds",0,"startMs",3661000,"endMs","viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2823619-8da7f4a79554e194891027678eb19742&start=3661&end=3661","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2823619-8da7f4a79554e194891027678eb19742/thumbnail_3661000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6098473/Grand-Rapids-City/Kent-County/Michigan/Grow-1000-summer-jobs-city-backed-program-seeks-130-placements-paid-orientation-and-training-for-youth","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6098473-78709781106b13857f7ab9d29f4c7a82/orig.mp4?Expires=1771163023&Signature=BWPBV6yFVYNObn~~Xe-0LZeCiR0mk0GMPDWyeZpSrz-riRXiCeGeJsnBdKP1ltBGhzTAsaVJnFkM7AOyNOtANzlgP3FCTptniVP3GYP7QP4T7e0D57d57yClf1Fw5SZsfKIOsFerKdi15l033IUXijUFxTq42DRirPmFpU~7P7z3x8oGgzA~j6KeY2M4cZ1mWVmyV1drT7uuUJNj6KNvdJzg2LYgPPbfEVbptiaFEEGPWm4~H76qmQGPeuL6NW4IjZeNIyk61j55cKTaSLuEXz4PAqfuJqPinP9kZvk7WSyW7anj8UDPBoD95eklSzull4MLZP1~mWmMKupo72S5iw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","The City of Grand Rapids","date","2025-03-25T00:00:00Z","article","Shannon Harris, executive director of Our Community's Children, briefed the committee on the Grow 1,000 summer youth employment program and asked employers and city departments to register as host sites.

Harris said the program began in 2020 and as of last summer had employed 1,150 young people over five summers. \"We wanted this not to be a moment, but also but a movement,\" she said, describing the program's goal of providing work experience and postsecondary information.

Why it matters: The program connects youth to paid work experience, workplace training and mentorship and is run as a public-private partnership between the city, Grand Rapids Public Schools and community partners.

Program results and design

- 2024 outcomes: Harris reported 397 unique applicants, 177 attendees at a paid orientation/training, 175 placements and 162 youths who ultimately worked. The program partnered with 48 host sites including for-profit, nonprofit and 14 city departments.

- Compensation and schedule: Grow 1,000 participants earn $13 an hour, work 20 hours per week for six weeks, and receive three hours per week of professional development (Grow Further Fridays). Host sites pay $1,600 per youth placed; smaller nonprofits (10 full-time employees or fewer) may qualify for subsidy funds.

- 2025 targets and dates: The program seeks 130 placements for 2025. Important dates: host-site registration due April 25, grower (youth) application also due April 25, an employer orientation will be held May 16 and the work period is June 9\u00009uly 18.

Outreach, equity and evaluation

Harris said most participants are under 18 and a large share live in the city's three wards; zip code data from prior years showed concentrations in several city neighborhoods. The program provides professional-development sessions, mentorship contracts and a city-run payroll and onboarding system. She said staff are working to track retention and degree attainment for program participants and that a retention specialist is being hired to follow long-term outcomes.

Funding and partnership notes

Harris said Our Community's Children manages program design and matching, and the city remains the employer of record. The program has received philanthropic support (for example, a Steelcase Foundation grant to support a community-of-practice for employers) and will request Third Ward Equity Fund support to help place residents from that ward.

Questions and committee response

Commissioners asked about the hourly rate, capacity and outreach to underrepresented groups. Harris said the program has raised the hourly wage over time from initial levels and currently had about 250 applicants early in the cycle. The committee asked how the program connects to postsecondary tracking and to disability outreach; Harris said the program can provide job accommodations when participants disclose needs and that a community-of-practice includes disability advocates to help host sites prepare.

Ending

Harris encouraged businesses, nonprofits and city departments to register by April 25 and to attend May 16 orientations. The committee praised the program's structure and urged continued outreach to employers and underrepresented communities to reach the placement goal.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Public Safety Committee - March 25, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Shannon Harris of Our Community's Children reviewed the Grow 1,000 summer youth employment program: since 2020 the initiative has placed 1,150 young people over five summers; for 2025 the program seeks 130 placements, pays $13 an hour for 20 hours a week over six weeks, and relies on city and partner host sites.","taxTitle","Grand Rapids City, Kent County, Michigan","taxId",3704,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":75,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":76,"_41":77,"_43":78,"_45":79,"_46":80,"_48":81,"_50":82,"_52":83,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":84,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":85,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6098478,"Grand Rapids police chief defends documentary collaboration; says pepper-ball response dispersed large downtown fight with no serious injuries",1865,1649000,3514000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2823619-8da7f4a79554e194891027678eb19742&start=1649&end=3514","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2823619-8da7f4a79554e194891027678eb19742/thumbnail_1649000.jpg","/articles/6098478/Grand-Rapids-City/Kent-County/Michigan/Grand-Rapids-police-chief-defends-documentary-collaboration-says-pepper-ball-response-dispersed-large-downtown-fight-with-no-serious-injuries","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6098478-6a41ae0a14f27a335992543b3435e055/orig.mp4?Expires=1771163023&Signature=SgTgeLRBZNp9NhNrgksdM87kmCPIwoagG8DSl64JJ2Bvi9IY1KRv4WkdCflzDPYjgSAoz3z~1y0~HVsT0YUnpdz~ZZXyfO2CTm4yaQuT3TyUpskH0F6JR3C~D1wao62JtzKDmFE62n5ahGwlGom8T1oOIObC5Y4QGsL9JWsCfXYLYpu~CWgp2k3ryez~2DLxsH1Q9Iu-WCE7IrxY6AqN8p45yDgJp37qe-dRhZMZNQrhnDWfjuaIsLdLaiTNohIEMQN9KiguqBHNFD7~1wLYO89ppEwlzZB0tGWFBJ3mjiw3RRHcd3-6yPxTn9yJrjXcBn17pei74WVwZ9A0KQVEUQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Windstrom told the Committee for Public Safety he supported a filmed collaboration with a documentary crew to increase recruitment and transparency, and he addressed community concerns about footage distribution and trauma.

Windstrom played a trailer to the committee, acknowledged an unofficial shorter trailer had circulated among staff and that the department had not intended broad distribution, and said the collaboration was aimed at recruiting and showing \"what's actually happening in the Grand Rapids Police Department.\" \"My name is Eric Windstrom, and I'm the chief of the Grand Rapids Police Department,\" he said in the trailer shown to the committee.

Why it matters: The chief framed the project as both a recruiting tool and a transparency measure. Several commissioners and the city manager raised community concerns about potential retraumatization from footage that includes violent incidents; the chief said the producers and the department had discussed editorial balance.

Documentary and circulation questions

Commissioner Kilgore asked why an unauthorized trailer circulated and why a later trailer differed. Windstrom said an initial clip was shared among department recipients to obtain sign-off for scenes that included his son; that clip then spread informally. He described three rationales for the collaboration: recruitment, public transparency about department changes and training, and a belief the documentary would show the city's broader public-safety ecosystem and community responses to tragedy.

Windstrom said the project could help recruiting and diversity efforts by showing careers in policing, and he emphasized he had not yet seen the final cut: \"I haven't seen a finished product yet. But I believe the whole the the best part about all this is gonna show Grand Rapids is a kinder, safer city that values humanity.\"

Dispatch accreditation and operations

Windstrom reported the city's dispatch center earned a gold-standard accreditation from the national commission that evaluates law-enforcement and public-safety accreditation; he described a recent hearing in which the dispatch center performed strongly and said other jurisdictions had asked to observe the center.

March downtown crowd-control incident

Committee members asked about a March incident on the 100 block of Commerce, where a crowded venue overflowed with an estimated 400 people in a space with roughly 200-person capacity during a busy weekend, the chief said. Officers who encountered multiple fights used pepper spray and a \"pepper ball\" launcher for area denial; Windstrom said the tool fires an irritant payload to the ground to disperse crowds and that it had been purchased within the last three years to phase out less-lethal shotguns.

Windstrom described the event as five separate fights among the crowd. He said officers arrested five people, reported no complaints and that no one suffered serious injury. \"Fortunately, no weapons came. A gun never showed up. A knife didn't show up,\" Windstrom said, calling the outcome better than potential alternatives. He added that the pepper-ball launchers are assigned to sergeants and were used by senior supervisors familiar with policy.

Community concerns and response

Several commissioners asked about trauma concerns and whether the documentary could retraumatize community members. Windstrom described outreach and said the documentary producers included interviews with victims' family members and that the project was not intended as a police \"cheerleader\" piece. The city manager and the mayor voiced support for transparency while acknowledging the need to balance public sensitivity to trauma.

Ending

Windstrom took questions about policing trends, including auto theft, robberies and homicide clearances. He reported improvements in several clearance and crime-rate metrics and defended the department's transparency initiatives, saying openness helped regain community trust after prior incidents. No formal actions or votes on the documentary or policy changes occurred during the committee discussion.","Police Chief Eric Windstrom discussed a documentary collaboration and showed a trailer, defended an unauthorized early trailer circulation, and described a March downtown mass brawl where officers used pepper spray and pepper-ball launchers to disperse a crowd of about 400, resulting in five arrests and no reported injuries.",{"_33":87,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":88,"_41":89,"_43":90,"_45":91,"_46":92,"_48":93,"_50":94,"_52":95,"_54":55,"_56":57,"_58":96,"_60":61,"_62":63,"_64":97,"_66":67,"_68":69,"_70":67,"_71":72,"_73":72},6098483,"Grand Rapids fire chief reports 25,415 incidents in 2024; emergency manager to leave city",1191,490000,1681000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2823619-8da7f4a79554e194891027678eb19742&start=490&end=1681","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2823619-8da7f4a79554e194891027678eb19742/thumbnail_490000.jpg","/articles/6098483/Grand-Rapids-City/Kent-County/Michigan/Grand-Rapids-fire-chief-reports-25415-incidents-in-2024-emergency-manager-to-leave-city","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6098483-9d96cfbba2d357655940ccb2550cf2ac/orig.mp4?Expires=1771163023&Signature=mDQZIBYebK3hZg5W03C5HGlLBGnZMvcv9DtN-LEVBS~mIKKfrd5Xn-8TqXweZdlizOBZL~7FrdclyTyXgwvAwMyOm3xP2u89TBMEMTgoG2KRl6~vfPlus8goWckKKYBIHLy5xzOg2jQ3WG1AkMJVonIOtsOAsdcTWfhfByTq36CPk3SxBtuFQgw3yB2uIx4SmeLIwk8k1FvaGe5dHDaBNXkEcD0Wv7cLE0p7VMKB-0CaNgMAV3UlL1-hRfltP7SXSqULwaMur9nsqEAL5A9B7V8pBtzED8sKyVvqkIR2RgKBFJ8RQaD~7svxaZJaFmX1us9u11xgadXimAm8vuFBvA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Chief Brown presented the Grand Rapids Fire Department's 2024 annual report to the city's Committee for Public Safety, saying the department responded to 25,415 incidents and nearly 35,000 apparatus responses last year.

Brown said the department recorded $381,000,000 in property and contents saved within the city, and that March 7 was this year's \"breakeven date\" — the date the department had saved more property and contents than the city's annual general-fund budget. \"I like to report out on what we saved and kinda flip the script on that,\" Brown said.

The report also noted civilian harm: \"we did experience deaths and injuries in the city, during 2024 due to fires. 6 civilian injuries and 1 death,\" Brown said, adding these are treated as people, not statistics.

Why it matters: The report is part of the department's accreditation and public-accountability work. It outlines trends that officials said drive staffing, station siting and community-risk reduction work, from smoke-alarm installs to technical-rescue training.

Key findings and context

- Incident volume and responses: Brown said the department logged 25,415 incidents and nearly 35,000 apparatus responses in 2024. He showed a steady year-over-year increase in calls, with higher call density in the downtown core and in the city's Third Ward near the Kendall Station development.

- Property saved: Brown reported the department estimated $381 million in property and contents saved by fire responses; he identified March 7 as the date the department had saved more property and contents than the city's annual general-fund budget.

- Civilian injuries and death: The department recorded six civilian injuries and one civilian death from fires in 2024, which Brown emphasized the department takes \"very seriously.\" The report did not give names or locations for those incidents.

- Medical calls and cardiac arrest outcomes: The department logged 342 cardiac arrests in the city in 2024 and reported a return-of-spontaneous-circulation (ROSC) rate of about 49% for witnessed events. Brown compared that to national averages in the mid-30s and said the city's performance is above the national average.

- Structure-fire tracking changes: Brown noted a methodological change in tracking structure fires tied to guidance from the National Fire Incident Reporting System; categories shifted and affected counts. He said counts of fires requiring active suppression changed (examples cited: previously 368, later reported as 263, then 238) because of new categorization, not necessarily because fires declined.

- Special operations and technical rescues: Brown said the department expanded elevator-rescue response beginning in 2023 after reviewing the risk profile downtown and training crews. He described technical rescue, water rescue and hazardous-materials response as low-frequency, high-risk operations that require specialized training.

- District call patterns and capacity watch-list: The report showed La Grave (downtown) as the busiest district, with Kalamazoo second and Bridal busy on the near West Side. Brown said the Leonard district in the far northeast (Knapp's Corner) has rising call volume and is on the department's watch list for potential future staffing changes; he said no immediate additional unit was being ordered.

- Performance metrics: Brown reported first-unit-on-scene metrics around 70% concentration, multiunit responses at about 92.5% and overall reliability near 85%. He flagged that standards and tracking methods change over time and noted asterisks on data when goals or measures change.

Community risk reduction and prevention

Brown highlighted prevention work: the department installed more than 8,000 smoke alarms in 2024, conducted more than 1,000 risk assessments and delivered 873 in-home safety assessments and installations in private residences. He described crews addressing small hazards, such as items placed near water heaters and blocked egress.

Staffing and recruitment

Brown described active recruitment programs: applications had been open only weeks but already showed more than 40 applicants for the cadet program and more than 300 for firefighter positions (he said he expected 700\u0000900 in total applications eventually). He said the department trains many recruits who lack prior certification and that model is intentional: \"we still train people off the streets to be firefighters.\" Recent academy hiring: 19 recruits started in January and 16 remained as they progressed through training; Brown said they are over halfway through fire training and EMT classes and expected to staff the new Kendall Station this summer.

Staff and program departures

Chief Brown called up Emergency Manager Allison Feroli, who announced she is leaving the city to become a director of emergency management and homeland security in Minnesota. \"Emergency management is not just a job to me, it's a career and a passion,\" Feroli said, thanking staff and the city for the opportunity.

Committee discussion and next steps

Committee members asked about the homeless outreach team embedded in the fire department; the city manager said the team was founded and remains housed in fire but that its long-term placement (fire, community development or another office) will be discussed in the budget process. Commissioners also thanked the department for smoke-alarm efforts and praised community-outreach work.

Ending

Brown closed by thanking his planning and data teams, including Lieutenant McIntyre and Captain Myers, for assembling the report. The department did not propose new ordinances or immediate staffing additions during the presentation; officials said they would continue monitoring district data and raise staffing recommendations as needed in future budget discussions.","Fire Chief Brown presented the Grand Rapids Fire Department's 2024 annual report, citing 25,415 incidents, nearly 35,000 apparatus responses, $381 million in property saved, and staffing and program updates; Emergency Manager Allison Feroli announced she is leaving for a state post in Minnesota.","actionData","errors"]

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Grow 1,000 summer jobs: city-backed program seeks 130 placements, paid orientation and training for youth

Grand Rapids police chief defends documentary collaboration; says pepper-ball response dispersed large downtown fight with no serious injuries

Grand Rapids fire chief reports 25,415 incidents in 2024; emergency manager to leave city