New Fort Worth Police Officer Wants To Change The Neighborhood He Grew Up In

FORT WORTH, Texas. Retired and longtime daycare owner Ossie Brooks showed stacks of WFAA photo albums of every child she has cared for over the years. She keeps up with them all.

“Because I felt like they were all going to be somebody,” Brooks said.

Brooks opened a kindergarten in Fort Worth. Her family and friends encouraged her to do so as she tried to figure out what to do with the house her mother left her in the Stop Six area.

Miss Brooks’ Kindergarten received the support of hundreds of families who attended church with Brooks. In fact, she began to take care of the next generation of children after so many years of work.

She said today that she is especially proud of the kindergarten children, like Malik Earl, who have grown up and are changing the world for the better.

“Malik looked after everyone else. Everything else was his concern. He was second on the list. Everyone else first,” Brooks said.

Earl grew up in the Stop Six neighborhood of Fort Worth. Their house, two bedrooms, one bath is still there. In fact, their old house is now his new investment.

“It’s just something I want to keep in my family because it was there. These are my roots right here in this city,” Earl said.

The Stop Six area has undergone many changes over the years. The Fort Worth Police have focused on the area to make it safer by reducing crime.

And now safer streets are part of Earl’s new job.

After graduating from college, he entered and graduated from the Fort Worth Police Academy.

“I can put on a police uniform, get a real badge, and then go through a formal training process, ride with a senior officer, and complete it,” Earl said.

When Earl graduated from the police academy, Brooks was not surprised. That’s because Brooks said he noticed that Earl was always one of the best kids in kindergarten, especially when it came to getting along with other kids.

“I’m not surprised by what he does because he’s like a goose that lays a golden egg,” Brooks said. “Everything he touches really turns to gold.”

Earl’s longtime hairdresser also knows about this golden touch.

Miss Nikki cut Earl for 25 years. She saw him grow up. Over the years they have had thousands of conversations on almost every topic imaginable.

This is exactly what hairdressers and their clients do. So, after more than two decades of talking, it was easy for Ms. Nikki to get to know him.

“He was always a peacemaker,” she said. “He who does not like conflict is always a protector. So it sort of matches who he is.”

It’s a fit that Earl said he thought would help him become a better cop.

“I always said I was just a Stop Six guy who became a cop,” Earl said.

Although Earl is one of the new officers protecting and serving in the city of Fort Worth, he has already had many positive interactions with people in the community.