Jon Hand, and Will Cleveland

Democrat and Chronicle

Eight police officers in one of the most embattled neighborhoods in Rochester saw that a group of kids from First Street were using a basketball hoop with a cracked backboard.

The officers — Cody Goodfriend, Michael Collins, Spenser McAvoy, Rich Rodriquez, Destiny Deterville, Michael Dewall, Stanley Kaminski and Thomas Lisle — each chipped in $15 to buy a new hoop.

And the joy was immediate. On Thursday afternoon, five of the officers played 3-on-3 and knockout with neighborhood kids.

"The officers wanted to start a relationship with these kids and thought this would be a good way to do it," said Capt. Korey Brown, head of the Clinton Section in northeast Rochester.

The officers, all members of the Clinton Section's Third Platoon, which works about 3 to 11 p.m., bought the hoop and placed it on the one-way street.

"We get to come out and play with them sometimes," McAvoy said. "When it's quiet, we lose track of time and you'll look down at your watch and it's lunch time before you know it."

The kids enjoy it just as much as the police. "You get to play against people who help you,” 12-year-old Daymeir Cain said.

For the officers, it's an opportunity to show a different side.

"People can see that police are people just like them," McAvoy said. "They can relate to us, come out here and play basketball with us. And then beat us in basketball, because we're not that good at it."

JHAND@Gannett.com

WCLEVELAND@Gannett.com