Christmas came early for a 12-year-old North Texas girl when one Dallas police officer heard from a heartbroken mother that her daughter was the victim of longtime bullying. He then intervened in ways this family never imagined.
East Dallas parent Alessia Wade, troubled by the bullying her child Alissa endured in school, contacted local patrolman, Dallas Police Department Officer Lamar Glass, for help. Wade said the bullying began in fourth grade. She told him that Alissa, now a sixth grade student at Comstock Middle School, is a bit shy and taller than many of her classmates. Bullies often teased Alissa, broke her glasses, spit on her, and even hit her with a basketball.
“I’m their community liaison,” said Glass of his Buckner Terrace neighborhood beat, adding “they have my personal phone number.” He told KDFW that Wade called him about her concerns. He said his goal was to “put all my resources together in this community and make it as powerful as we possibly can.” Glass reached out over social media and quickly assembled a small army of 200 Dallas-Fort Worth biker group members to surprise Alissa with a motorcycle escort to school on Friday, December 15.
Glass, who led the procession, announced all this on his Facebook page earlier that morning. Dallas police later held an anti-bullying rally on the middle school campus.
Dallas PD posted footage of the “no bullying escort” by DFW motorcycle riders. Todd Brisbon, who heads up the Guardians of the Children Grove Chapter in Seagoville, a suburb southeast of Dallas, rode alongside the bikers in a white pickup truck that sported these messages in bright red: “No Bullying Zone” and “Bullying Stops Here.”
Glass also tapped First Stripe, a Dallas-based non-profit, to participate in the anti-bullying rally. The group helps build stronger relationships between first responders and the communities they serve in Texas and other states. According to KDFW, First Stripe organized offers to give Alissa a spa day, a new hairstyle, self defense and confidence building classes, plus some special Christmas gifts.
On Friday, the 12-year-old arrived at school to a receiving line of a multitude of bikers, cheers, applause, and hugs. Glass said he wanted to bring awareness across the country about bullying, noting that these “kids just want to be accepted.”
Wade called the anti-bullying rally awesome. “Oh, I’m speechless right now but the serious part of it is that she came to me and she talked to me.” In another Dallas PD Facebook posted video, this mother, overcome by all that Glass orchestrated for Alissa, commented: “Like I’ve been saying all morning, talk to your pastor, a mother, your father, a sibling, a friend, or somebody and spread the word because bullying has to stop. It has to.”
She added: “This is just paving the way for other people who are being bullied. Please speak up. Please.”
Glass has gone beyond the call of duty for his community on other occasions. In November, he partnered with the Buckner Terrace Neighborhood Association, collecting donations from neighbors, other police officers, and local business so he could hand out 100 free Thanksgiving turkeys to Buckner Terrace families in need. KDFW reported Glass grew up in this section of East Dallas and it holds special meaning for him. He has patrolled their streets for the past six years.
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