Bonnyville RCMP take a Proactive Approach to Policing

Engaging youth in the community is an important goal for the Bonnyville RCMP. The Detachment believes that by showing the younger population the important roles the police play in the community and building relationships with the younger generation it’ll help in reducing crime later.

” An important aspect of the RCMP is Community Policing which includes forming relationships with those in our communities. One of the many ways the police force gets to know the kids is through school tours,” on June 2nd, Constable Laura Carroll, hosted four Kindergarten classes from Notre Dame Elementary.”We try to accommodate all requests for tours,” explains Cst. Carroll. “In Bonnyville, each Constable is assigned a school to liaise with and we try, when possible to visit our school for events and be present to get to know the children.”

Cst Carroll says the tours have fun mixed in with lessons for the kids, “With each detachment tour, along with seeing the detachment, looking at a police car and getting to meet Odie, I try to get to know the children and talk to them about the most important part of our job – keeping children safe.  Along those lines, we talk about who the children could speak to if something bad happened or if someone upsets them. Not only can they speak to police, I like to remind them that they can talk to their parents and teachers too.” In crisis situations it’s hard, especially for children, to determine what to do to manage the situation; if the kids already have that knowledge they’ll be better prepared should an emergency or crisis arise. 

Educating kids on their options and the effects of crime really helps make the children choice wisely when put in difficult positions. “I hope that the children were able to see that police officers are adults that they can easily talk to and that they should not be scared of us.” Cst. Carroll hope the kids overall had a great time and took home that excitement to their families, “I hope that they has a good time meeting Odie and that they enjoyed getting to know some of their local Mounties.”