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These Miami teens want to prevent crime in Allapattah. They need your help.

In Carlos Valdez’s Allapattah neighborhood, people sometimes find their car windows smashed and items stolen, but he says the police are rarely called.

Friends and neighbors can be afraid to call the cops because they are undocumented, or they simply don’t think they’ll get help, Valdez says. The Dominican Republic native wants to change the perception of policing in his neighborhood.

“They think those kinds of crimes are rarely solved,” said Valdez, a 16-year-old Miami Jackson Senior High School student.

Valdez is one of five teens organizing an event at 5 p.m. Friday at Juan Pablo Duarte Park to promote public safety, especially during the holidays, and to educate people on how to report crimes to Miami Police. The teens and cops will be there to discuss community policing and how neighbors can help each other stay safe.

The students say they want to break down barriers and form a stronger bond with law enforcement so Allapattah residents can feel safer and more confident in the cops.

The teens are “fellows” in a youth civics program run by the Allapattah Collaborative Community Development Corporation. The youths chose #SaferTogether as a theme for a community engagement project because they felt crime and policing are difficult topics to discuss among friends and family.

Natalie Santana, 17, said she wants her peers to feel comfortable sharing information with police if they know someone has committed a crime — a taboo topic that she said needs more attention.

“They say, ‘snitches get stitches.’ People say, ‘He’s my homie, I don’t want to snitch on him,’” Santana said during a meeting of the fellows on a recent evening. “Little do they know that their homies’ behavior could be affecting someone else’s family.”

Santana shared her thoughts in a sixth-floor conference room on the edge of Allapattah’s Health District, with Miami’s skyline and I-95 traffic jams in clear view. Traffic from Miami Art Week snaked along the highway, but the teens had barely heard of Art Basel and had no plans to visit any galleries. Between school and work, they had their hands full with planning the event and convincing people that it’s okay to call the police when there’s a crime to report.

“People don’t trust the system,” said Geymi Alonzo, 16. “They say, ‘What if they deport me? What if they don’t believe me?’”

The fellows have met with Miami’s police department and Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla’s office to discuss the initiative. Both the commissioner and the police are supporting Friday’s event.

What: #SaferTogether event to promote public safety

When: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 10

Where: Juan Pablo Duarte Park, 1776 NW 28th St.