BONNYVILLE/COLD LAKE – Local youth caught by police doing a positive act this summer will get rewarded.
Law enforcement in Cold Lake and Bonnyville will be on the look out for those doing good deeds as part of their positive ticket initiative.
The Bonnyville detachment is partnering with the Bonnyville and District Centennial Centre for the second year to hand out movie tickets to younger residents who are smart, active, and obeying the law.
“The officers that are participating are going to have tickets and treat bags with them in their cars,” explained organizer Cst. Megan Letang. “When we’re out in the community and we see something, we’re going to stop and make sure we acknowledge it.”
Letang got the idea last year after a positive interaction with a youth in Glendon.
“I asked S/Sgt. Sarah Parke if there was something that we can do for the youth in the community, and she said she did this project when she was up in Lac La Biche. I took that idea she gave me, and I reached out to the C2 and I was able to work with them,” she explained, adding the Bonnyville Victim Services Unit (VSU) also became a partner this year to help make a treat bag the youth can bring to a movie at the Centennial Centre.
“What we’re aiming to put into the bag is a drink, chips, and candy so that the kids can take something with them when they’re going to see the movie, which we got approval from the C2 for them to bring in their snacks.”
Last year, members handed out 50 tickets to youth in the community, and Letang said their hoping to find another 50 kids to reward this year.
One of Letang’s most memorable encounters last summer was when she came across a young girl biking with her parents along Jessie Lake.
“I stopped, turned my lights and sirens on, did the whole thing, called her over, and I gave her a positive ticket because she was wearing her helmet. I think that’s important, those moments that we create with youth.”
Bonnyville Sgt. Kim Hillier said this is just another example of the detachment’s commitment to being involved in the community.
“The regular day to day duties of the members here are varied and present a significant workload of investigations, a lot of the planning and execution of special projects involves members using their own time to see them come to fruition, so it makes me proud that they care about our community so much that they are willing to put in all the extra effort required,” she told LakelandToday.
For the month of July, law enforcement officers in the City of Cold Lake will be watching for kids practising personal safety, being a community hero, demonstrating a positive attitude, or making a smart choice.
“Those options are kind of vague, so it gives us the opportunity to pick someone out if you see a kid picking up trash, or if you see them walking their bike across the street, or wearing a helmet, or a life jacket on a boat,” noted Cold Lake RCMP Cst. Victoria Forbes. “It gives us the opportunity to build a positive rapport with young people and, hopefully, by doing this it gives them the confidence to approach us and communicate with us down the road.”
A 4 Wing military police member approached the Cold Lake RCMP about the idea, and Forbes knew it was an initiative she wanted to be a part of.
“We wanted to make it a big deal, so we got peace officers involved as well. We thought the three of us could work together because we’re all partners, we’re all law enforcement here in Cold Lake. It gave us a good opportunity to be able to work together and build a relationship with each other as well as try to build a relationship between us and the community.”
Each positive ticket in Cold Lake has a coupon for either a small ice cream or fries from McDonald's, a dilly bar from Dairy Queen, or a slurpee from 7-Eleven. Youth also have a chance to be entered into a large draw for either an iPad or gift cards to Sport Chek or Mach 1.
