Ten volunteers will form a Youth Advisory Committee in La Ronge. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

volunteering

RCMP pilot project seeking youth in La Ronge to join advisory committee

Jul 23, 2020 | 5:00 PM

La Ronge is part of a Saskatchewan RCMP pilot project aimed at increasing and enhancing police engagement with youth between the ages of 12 to 17.

“The plan for now is we’ve launched the recruitment and we’re hoping to engage with a total of 100 youth from across the province,” Community Program Officer Laili Yazdani said about the recently launched Youth Advisory Committee. “The next step after this would be to hold community consultations, so we are looking to pilot this initiative in the first year in nine detachments.”

Those communities include La Loche, La Ronge, Meadow Lake, Melfort, Moosomin, North Battleford, Pelican Narrows, Southey and Warman. An additional 10 youth from across the province will also be chosen depending on the applications received and what they express as their interest.

At detachments in those communities, Yazdani mentioned committee members will be linked with police officers, community program officers or community constables to develop solutions to address the root causes of crime. A goal of the pilot project is to have youth feel their voices are valued and they are contributing to effective change.

“We did want to have some local engagement, because in the youth survey that we circulated last year, about 70 per cent of the comments related to just having positive interactions with RCMP members,” Yazdani said. “Part of that is getting to know the members better in their communities.”

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Those who join a committee will work with RCMP to address crime and victim issues identified by youth and promote awareness events like Pink Shirt Day and National Addictions Awareness Week. Youth will also be required to volunteer a minimum of six hours per month for one school year and participate in weekly meetings, monthly virtual meetings and an annual camp with youth and mentors. Members will receive a volunteer certificate that can be used for employment or post-secondary applications.

Due to coronavirus restrictions, Yazdani was unsure how the project would develop, but noted she hopes meetings to begin in October. Youth interested in joining can request an application form by emailing RCMP.FCommunityServices-FServicescommunautaires.GRC@rcmp.gc.ca.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno