Young people dressed in dark clothing were checking for unlocked car doors in a church parking lot this week. They were doing the owners a favour.
Three young people are currently engaged in the Guelph Police Service’s Youth in Policing Initiative, a program that introduces a select few young people to what policing is all about. The initiative continues throughout the summer.
Const. Kyle Grant is overseeing YIPI this year. He said three highly capable participants were selected from 50 applications.
“We hire three high school students in the city of Guelph, and they come and work with us full-time during the summer,” Grant said. “These are the best of the best. It was a really difficult process to get hired.”
On Monday the aspiring cops took part in the ‘Lock It or Lose It’ crime prevention program. They checked for unlocked vehicles and left a notice on windshields, alerting the owners to the very real threat of car theft.
The ‘tickets’ warned that a professional car thief can swipe a car in about 30 seconds, and any vehicle with an unlocked door or open window is an easy target. Always roll up windows, lock doors and pocket your keys when you park, the ticket suggested.
Alex Tout, Iman Aziz, and Adrianna Vanos are this year’s participants.
“We’re doing so many different things, getting exposed to so many different aspects of the community and policing,” said Aziz.
Vanos said the experience is different every day.
“That’s a cool thing about it,” she said. “It’s not like a regular summer job, because you never know what to expect. Some days we’re in dispatch, other days we’re doing a ride along, and some days we’re helping out at the food bank.”
The participants get a good overview of what police work is all about, with exposure to the various units of the police service, Grant said. They ride along with on-duty officers, and take part in a host of community activities, including volunteering at the Guelph Food Bank, Guelph Humane Society, and Guelph Y Camp.
Alex Tout is finding the experience fascinating. The police service is its own little community, he said.
“It looks like it would be a fun career to get into,” he said, a sentiment shared by his two female colleagues in the program. All three are seriously considering police work as a career option.
A big part of policing is interactions with the public, and these young people are learning a lot about what it takes to have a good rapport with the citizens they serve.
“It’s sometimes funny what the public reaction can be,” Tout said. “When we do ‘Lock It or Lose It’ they may think we’re breaking into their cars and stuff like that. But Kyle is always around to remind the public that we are just giving some friendly reminders, because breaking into cars in Guelph is a common crime.”
Our three participants said they are learning invaluable lessons in communication.
“The job requires a lot of talking and explaining,” Aziz said. “You’re in the community a lot, with so many different people.”
Vanos and Tout agreed that the job is teaching them how to communicate with a wide variety of people, from all ages and backgrounds. Tout said the three are also learning how to work well in a team, and that involves communicating well with each other.
This week the aspiring police officers will be helping out at the Hot Summer Nights event Thursday evening in Exhibition Park, and at the Shelldale Better Beginnings, Better Future noon-hour picnic on Friday.
Grant is very impressed with the work the three young hires are doing.
“These are three great young people,” he said. “They are future leaders for us. That’s what this program is about, identifying those future leaders and help to groom them to be the leaders of tomorrow.”
