Ottawa police are calling on the community’s youth to share their voice in a new youth advisory committee launching this spring.
“Young people are an amazing resource, and we want to tap into them,” says youth program specialist and organizer Jessica Ripley.
The Ottawa Police Service opened dialogue last October at a Let’s Chat Youth Café when they hosted more than a hundred youth who contributed ideas on preventing crime and building stronger trust with police officers.
The ideas helped organizers draft plans for the youth committee, intended to become a permanent sounding board on police issues.
“It’s a city-wide conversation, that gives youth an opportunity to be a resource and make a contribution,” says Ripley.
People under 24 can apply online before March 23. The Ottawa Police Service will choose up to 20 people to sit on the committee, along with three police members.
Those selected will give four to five hours of their time a month. In return, they get a forum to voice their opinions and will be rewarded with leadership opportunities, free food and bus tickets.
Allison McCartney, 20, an international development and globalization studies student at the University of Ottawa, says she is applying to the committee to learn about law and enforcement.
“I find it really interesting to be aware of the law and new changes that are affecting you,” she says.
The committee will also work to educate police officers, who will get a chance to learn about youth culture, trends and social media directly from its young members.
“We wanted to help give a voice to a segment of society that maybe doesn’t traditionally have a voice,” says Ottawa police Sgt. Jamie Dunlop.
Dunlop says the committee was created to open a dialogue with youth, and not to address any particular problems.
He says the committee could help raise awareness about bylaws that aren’t readily known to youth, such as a ban on being in parks after 11 p.m.
“Youth could address if that’s still a problem, or if there’s different ways of dealing with it,” Dunlop says.
McCartney says the committee can also help educate youth who are not always aware of age specific rules, such as a zero tolerance law on blood alcohol concentration in drivers under 21.
“Knowledge isn’t getting transferred. Sometimes I’m not always aware of the separate rules for young people,” McCartney says.
McCartney is also interested in what measures the police are taking to increase security for young females at night.
“I want to see what precautions the police are taking to protect people such as myself, who are often on campus or taking the bus home late night,” she says.
The committee will be led by youth representing different areas of the city. The first meeting will be held at the Elgin Street police headquarters, and further meetings are likely to be held in different locations across the city.
With a number of university students living in Centretown, the committee will help engage different sectors of the community, says Robert Dekker, vice-president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association.
“This is a great way of developing more community leaders,” Dekker says.