Durham Police encouraging youth to get involved through paid internships

Durham Police is encouraging youth to get involved in policing through their Youth in Policing Leadership Team, a paid employment and personal development initiative that has employed more than 120 teenagers since 2006.

The program is open to youth aged 15-18 and is operated in partnership with Ontario’s Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services.

As employees of the Durham Region Police Service, youth engage in hands-on learning experiences that emphasize the importance of leadership, teamwork, and community engagement. In addition, the teens are exposed to policing as a career and will interact with many various sectors of the service.

The Youth in Policing Initiative aims to empower others to make positive changes within their communities, personal lives, and the lives of others. The program allows youth to develop and enhance professional skills in preparation for future employment and student advancement.

The goal of the program is for all students to be U.N.I.T.E.D.:

• Understand and appreciate diversity
• Navigate their future through setting personal and professional goals
• Involve themselves as leaders in the community
• Think and reflect globally
• Empower others to be ambassadors of change
• Discover policing beyond the uniform

Students in the program get involved in the community in many ways. This month students helped collect thousands of personal care and school supply items for students at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, a First Nations high school located in Thunder Bay.

A member of Durham Police’s Diversity Advisory Committee emailed the program seeking help and the Youth in Policing leadership team arranged for students to drop off donations during a drive-thru event.

To apply visit recruitdrps.durham.ca.