Detroit organization uses sports to bridge gap between police and community

DETROIT (FOX 2) - On Saturday, children and police officers came together to play kickball in Hamtramck.

"There’s a need for the community and the police to come together. It shouldn’t be the police versus the community, we should all be one," Elijah Richardson said.

Richardson founded Whose House Our House, a Detroit organization that works to bridge the gap between police and the community with sports.

"We have kids in our program at first they said they don’t trust the police, and they’re scared – now they have aspirations of being police officers one day. We are doing it a lot and I love it," he said. "No matter who you are, where you come from, you can make a difference be the change you wish to see."

Richardson said the mission is personal for him. He grew up in a single parent home with 10 siblings. He overcame struggles, including homelessness, before later graduating with a master's degree in criminal justice.

Now, he uses his organization to bring police and the people they serve together.

"Sometimes every kid don’t have the ability to see the good side of policing. Today we get to show we're more than just locking up bad guys. We actually are giving back, and we still really care, and we’re really trying to bridge that gap between the community and policing," said Lester Johnson, a neighborhood police officer in Detroit.