A mixture of warning and song rang through the auditorium at police headquarters yesterday.
Teens who gathered for the first meeting of the Baltimore Police Youth Choir learned that singing wouldn't be their only responsibility. They must do their homework, they were told. They must listen to their parents. And they must stay off street corners.
"You have to be an example for the city," Officer Roderick Dotson told the 30 youngsters from Forest Park High School and Winston Middle School.
"Anything you do wrong, the whole world is going to know about it," he added. "Keep it in mind."
Officer Dotson, a musician for 28 years, emphasized that the new singing group "is not just a choir," but a way for officers to reach out to troubled city youths.
The choir is the second teen program created by the Police Department under Commissioner Thomas C. Frazier. In September the department started a basketball league that marked the official rebirth of youth leagues, halted two years ago because of budget cuts. The league drew 600 players.
The choir probably won't give a concert until next spring. But yesterday, the teens rehearsed briefly for an event scheduled at the end of this month, when Mr. Frazier will introduce the program to parents and community leaders.
Organizers hope the choir, which will sing at city events, will attract 200 teens representing schools in every section of Baltimore. There are no auditions, and singing is not the only way to help out. The choir also needs stagehands and people to operate lights and electronic equipment.
Several area businesses and the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health are co-sponsoring the choir. Students and teachers from the Hopkins school have offered to help choir members do their homework in study sessions that may be held before practice, the commissioner said.
Yesterday, the students sang one song, "Together We Can Make It," the opening number for the presentation in two weeks.
Mr. Frazier, who walked into the auditorium carrying a baton, hopes the singers will some day be compared with the famous Harlem Boys Choir.
"To be better then they are, that is my goal," the commissioner told them. "I want you to be as big and as good as they are, and with that kind of exposure."
No problem, the teens responded.
"I want to be a lead singer," said Andre McLaughlin, 16, a sophomore at Forest Park, in Northwest Baltimore, off Liberty Heights Avenue. "I want to be the next Boyz II Men. I'm here to see what the choir has to offer me."
Robert Hill, 15, a Forest Park freshman who wants to be an "excellent musician" said Officer Dotson's words will take hold in more troubled neighborhoods, "for people who will listen."
Anyone interested in joining the Baltimore Police Youth Choir should call the department's Special Projects Unit at 396-2603 no later than Dec. 23.