Chicago police officer sees Austin teen off to college after years of friendship
CHICAGO (CBS) – A Chicago police officer became a mentor and a friend to a West Side teenager through a program that partners officers with elementary schools.
Now, that friendship is paying off as the officer helps send the teen off to college, CBS 2's Jermont Terry reports.
It was moving day on the West Side.
"Just packing some clothes," said Devin Watson. "The essentials I need."
Watson was preparing for the next step in life: college.
"When you get closer to the day, reality hits you like, dang, I'm gonna be gone from home for a long time," he said.
Watson lives in the Austin community, where he acknowledges there were many distractions.
"A lot of bad influences and temptation," he said.
There were temptations to go down the wrong path.
"Playing sports kept me on the right track," Watson said. "It was my motivation, and everyone around me kept me on the right track."
Watson's mother and other family members were vital, yet someone else played a significant role in helping him head downstate to Monmouth College.
"Like with Will, I got a big bro," Watson said.
Will is better known as Chicago police officer William Martinez.
"We ran a mentorship program at Brunson Elementary," Martinez explained. "Devin was in seventh grade at the time."
Martinez said it was a three-month program meant to create a partnership with CPD and youth in the elementary school.
Five years later, as the West Side teen filled his college tote, the 15th District officer loaded a van for the same college road trip.
Officer Martinez didn't know the seventh grader he befriended would end up living right across from the West Side police station.
"That was the best thing that could've happened," said Quincola Collins, Watson's mother.
Collins told CBS 2 she never questioned the relationship between the two.
"He always said, 'Mom, I'm going to hang with my mentor,'" Collins said. "I was like, 'Who's your mentor?' He said, 'He's a police officer.' I said that was perfect because he lost his father when he was five years old, so he needed a mentor. He needed that guidance."
Yet, Watson admitted his friends questioned why he was so close with a police officer.
"I had to explain to them he's more than a cop," Watson said. "He's also a person. He gotta take the uniform off eventually. I had to explain that being around him, he's more like a homie than a cop 90% of the time."
Now, the bond Watson and Martinez share is unbreakable.
"Me and Devin built up we're family," Martinez said. "A lot of youth here, it isn't just an Officer Will. I'm Will, whatever you need me to be, if that's an uncle, that's a cousin, that's a friend."
The commander of the District embraced their relationship. When word got out that Watson was headed down to Monmouth College on an academic scholarship, the officers at the 15th District pitched in to help load up the family's van.
Terry: "How does this make you feel when you think about, 'I met this kid in seventh grade, and now I'm taking him down to college?'"
Martinez: "It's just making a difference trying to work with him and see him advance and come back and uplift the other youth. That's all we're doing, just trying to change the culture of the community. We have to do it together."
This relationship also breaks down the stereotypes.
"I say don't look at the negative all the time," Watson said.
Showing officers and youngsters are not always at odds and community police done right can lead to lifelong friendships.
Also in the van headed three hours downstate were Martinez's own family. Since Watson is family, nobody wanted to miss the sendoff to college.
