Michael
Leonard Sr. is a criminal justice consultant,
motivational speaker and author. He has an extensive background in New
York City related to adult and juvenile offenders. Mr. Leonard holds
training certifications and is a member of the East Coast Gang
Investigators Association.
Mr. Leonard has more than 30 years experience working with youth and
gangs. He was employed in earlier years with the Police Athletic
League, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and NYC Housing Authority.
“Turning around young people starts with one-on-one intervention,”
stated Mr. Leonard, “Parents, relatives and teachers who get involved
with their kid’s lives, have the chance to identify the good
consequences that occur from not being involved with a gang.” With
individual attention and through mutual respect, barriers can be
overcome and all youth have the opportunity to achieve positive
outcomes.
“Saving lives” is Michael Leonard’s mission and one way to interrupt
the direction of gang-involved youth is to provide knowledge to those
working directly with our community’s children and adolescents. As a
Criminal Justice Consultant for many years, Mr. Leonard is very
familiar with gangs and how youth are drawn to these organizations. He
is knowledgeable about gang identifiers, gang characteristics, nation
sets, group symbols (e.g., graffiti and hand signs), gang
allies/enemies, and inception behaviors. He teaches people how to
distinguish between youth involved in gangs and youth who just are
making fashion statements. Mr. Leonard travels around the country
teaching Gang Awareness to nonprofit and community based organization
staff, practitioners, community corrections staff, workforce
development professionals, policy makers, criminal justice staff,
churches, schools and others. |
