Detroit School Gets New Safety Patrol

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Twenty-six students at Gompers Elementary and Middle School in northwest Detroit joined an ancient fraternity this week.

What was the initiation rite? Just proving to teachers that they have a desire to help.

The Gompers students are the newest AAA safety patrollers in Michigan.

The students, sixth to eighth graders, have been trained to protect fellow students going to and from school.  They join 1,464 AAA safety patrollers in Detroit and more than 33,000 patrollers across Michigan.

Gompers Safety Patrol Captain Andre Robertson, 14, an eighth grader, was trained to help the nearly 1,000 students at the school, which opened doors last fall at 14500 Burt Road. He took his duties seriously, guarding classmates as they crossed the road and keeping an Eagle eye on traffic.

The patrol program at the school officially launched  this week, but the AAA safety patrol program dates back to 1919 in Detroit.

School officials recently announced violent crime is down 13 percent in Detroit schools. Safety patrols are one of the things credited for the drop.