Perth County OPP and Stratford Police Service are partnering up to invite youth to form a Youth Action Committee.
Constable and Perth County OPP School Resource Officer, Marg Geurts, says the project was a collaboration between herself and Constable Darren Fischer from Stratford Police.
She says they want to give youth an opportunity to have their voices heard regarding things like community safety, youth crime, victimization, cyberbullying, and online safety.
"We really want this to be a youth led thing. We want to hear the voices of the youth in the county, and what's important to them and what needs to be changed. We kind of want to be the helpers with that and maybe give them some direction," Geurts explained.
The online safety and cyberbullying aspect is a key one to engage youth on, Geurts says, because the internet can be a very dangerous place for youth.
"Social media plays a huge part in their lives. We want youth to obviously be safe when they do that and how they use that technology. Sometimes they know more than us, especially when it comes to some of those social media platforms," said Geurts.
The program will count towards community hours for high school completion, and Geurts also says she hopes maybe it inspires some future officers.
"If people are interested in policing, we're gonna have a bit of information on that tied into this. So that if that is of any interest to some of these young people, then this type of long-term volunteering looks great on resumés and hopefully it's just a great opportunity to meet some new people, as well," added Geurts.
Meetings will be the first Wednesday of every month and they will rotate around Perth County. Any youth 14-18 who want to sign up for the Youth Action Council must register by September 20.
You can pick up an application at any of the three Perth County OPP Detachments in Listowel, Mitchell, or Sebringville, at the Stratford Police Service, or by emailing Constable Geurts or Fischer at Margaret.geurts@opp.ca or dfischer@stratfordpolice.com.