SPRINGWATER LAKE, ON — Thunder Bay Police officers have been participating this month in an outreach program at the military's Junior Canadian Ranger camp, 50 kilometres north of Geraldton.
Camp Loon, located at Springwater Lake, is for boys and girls between 12 and 18 from remote Indigenous communities in the north.
Each summer, it hosts youths for training in leadership skills and activities which may not be available to them at home, such as boating, shooting, ATV-riding and various sports.
The military says JCR aims to provide a structured youth program that promotes traditional cultures and lifestyles.
Junior Canadian Rangers are taught by qualified Canadian Rangers—part of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves working in isolated and coastal regions of Canada—as well as by other members of the armed forces and by adult volunteers.
Thunder Bay police volunteers have participated in previous years, but Inspector Ryan Gibson of the Community Services Branch says they've never had a bigger commitment than this year, with five or six officers generally participating daily.
Officers act as mentors and provide instruction in activities such as archery, paintball and skeet-shooting for more than100 youth from Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities.
Gibson said the police service believes it's important to connect and establish relationships with young people.
"We're introducing ourselves to a number of youth who will be coming into our community for school and other opportunities, and giving them a chance to interact with our officers, knowing they'll be coming to the big city and feeling comfortable dealing with the police.
He said having officers serve at Camp Loon also provides "positive messaging" for the youth and for their families who then return home and are able to talk about their interactions with police and their feelings toward the city.
Gibson said officers who volunteer for the assignment are paid as they would for their regular duties, but "they are obviously working past their hours and then they are giving back."
He said it's worthwhile for police to "invest" in youth with this kind of outreach in order to help them gain confidence and trust. "And if they're more comfortable talking to us, interacting with us, if something happens they will report those things."
The payback, Gibson said, comes over the long term. "It's not about any immediate result. You're planning for the future. And that's one of our mandates as a police service. That's why we're really excited about this program."
