A development in the relationship between local youth and police officers took form last year with the OPP Youth Advisory Committee.
Since 2021, the Collingwood detachment has considered innovative approaches to interacting with local youth, and with the 2023 action plan youth engagement took priority.
“It’s an effort on the part of our police department and detachment to engage a youth voice to support police programming and police services within the community,” said Inspector Loris Licharson.
The committee’s first meeting was in September 2024, with a second held in December. He describes it as “a new thing and we’re learning as we go.”
Five officers and seven youths, ages 15 to 19, from the towns of Blue Mountains and Collingwood gather for presentations and discussions. Abigail Desormeaux is in grade 11 and the chair of the board.
“I think there’s a lot of value to what we’re doing,” she said.
Desormeaux described her interest in the committee as an expression of her passion to help her community. As chair, her role is to mediate some of the discussion between her peers and then present their perspectives and concerns to the officers.
“I’m the final say of our little group before it goes further. I’m still learning…and there is some procedure to everything. I try my best to show the other side of it, even if I don’t fully agree with the point, that we can see it from all perspectives,” she explained.
With her curiosity and desire to be involved in her community, Desormeaux recognized the value of different ways police officers and youth interact with each other.
“What we have to say should definitely be part of the conversation,” she said.
The highlight of the committee is that youth and officers meet under circumstances beyond responding to calls, mitigating the potential for negative takeaways. Insp. Licharson pointed out that the focus is less on schools and more on engaging directly with communities.
“It is an advisory group, so their role is to provide that level of counsel to us and our role is to look at that and provide answers where we can, to take action where we can, and if we can’t to provide the explanation. So there’s accountability both ways,” said Insp. Licharson.
The biggest challenge so far has been to keep the meetings on time; they tend to go longer because “the conversation is that good,” said Insp. Licharson.
Social media and how people of different age groups and backgrounds interact with it took precedence at one meeting.
“How the streamline of information comes down and a lot of the members on the committee have younger siblings, so (we’re learning) how that falls into it, too” said Desormeaux.
She described learning how an officer may or may not have both personal and work-related social media accounts.
“We’re riding a fine line with the para-social relationships, so it’s interesting to understand where the lines are and how people see it differently,” she said.
Insp. Licharson detailed how the conversation about communication raised methods the detachment might consider to reach more youth in the community. After a presentation that outlined OPP policy and its social media presence, the committee came to realize that youth and OPP use different platforms.
“So, we’re almost talking different languages. The conversation became about how we bridge that gap,” said Insp. Licharson.
He noted that the Youth Advisory Committee is an ambitious undertaking but that he is impressed with the level of engagement.
“It’s a big demographic and we really feel that the ability to have a positive and proactive relationship with kids is incredibly important because that first interaction with youth is going to impact every interaction after that,” he said.
Desormeaux recounted instances when officers came to her school, wandered around talking with youth. She is excited about the committee as a way to encourage the “understanding that they’re here to help,” she said.
She described their efforts to develop something that continues with future generations as some members will be leaving for post-secondary education.
“The main core of it doesn’t change so we can have new voices come in and grow with it,” she expressed.
Although youth are a strong focus, Insp. Licharson noted the broader social impacts of the committee.
“If we can get advice from counsel on what programs might work and what might work better, what avenues we can do things differently and have better relationships and grounding, then everybody wins,” he said.
Desormeaux helps with meeting minutes and reviewing agendas already, though Insp. Licharson foresees a time when the youth on the committee set agenda items as well.
“All the youth on this committee are amazing folks. They’re leaders in the community and are going to do some amazing things, so I’m grateful for the dedication they’ve given,” he said.
The goal is to hold four meetings per year. Members expressed excitement about what can be accomplished in the near and far future.