A group of high school students and police from around Canada were in Regina this week for a youth leadership conference, aimed at fostering better future relationships between young Indigenous people and police.

Fourteen Indigenous Grade 9 to 12 students from across the country attended the Wednesday workshop at the Regina RCMP Academy. Each was accompanied by an RCMP mentor from their community.

Together, the mentors and mentees worked on community action plans around youth crime and victimization, in addition to attending sessions and hearing from guest speakers. 

Isaiah Daniels, a 15-year-old from Swift Current, Sask., who attended the conference, says it’s important to have mutual respect between officers and youth.

He says he’s had his past issues with police, and is working to get his life on the right track.

“I wanted to see what it was like to be on the other side,” he said. 

Daniels befriended Swift Current Const. Tony Curti, who is now Daniels’s RCMP mentor. Daniels says he’s learned a lot about the police as a result.

“I just thought that cops were bad guys and you should never be around them,” Daniels said. 

Then he met Curti. “He talked to me like I was a regular person.… It changed my perspective on a cop,” he said.

“Without the vest on … they’re regular people underneath.”

Daniels said young people like him may have had negative experiences with police in the past, or may have been told negative things by family members. But he says building up relationships can help.

“Kids get nervous when they’re around cops, and are scared of cops,” he said. 

“And I want [officers] to learn that our respect is not given, but earned,” Daniels said. “You have to earn your respect to be seen differently in other people’s eyes.” 

Daniels said drugs are the big issue he hopes to focus on in his community. He hopes to inspire young people in Swift Current to stay away from drugs.

Const. Curti said he’s also learning things each day by talking to youth like Daniels. Among other topics, Curti said he and Daniels have talked about the drug problem. 

“It’s a supply and demand situation, right?” Curti said. “It’s out there. We have to get rid of that demand.”

Instead of just telling kids “drugs are bad,” Curti said they should focus on community engagement and foster respect between police and youth. 

“They won’t do drugs, they won’t commit a crime just for respect,” he said. “I think it’s going to take some time.”

Curti said police officers, and adults in general, sometimes make assumptions about how youth are feeling and what they are going through. Actually talking to young people can be eye-opening, he said.

“[Daniels] respects me enough to try to talk to me quite frankly, which is exactly what I needed,” Curti said. 

In the future, Daniels hopes to start an outreach group that can give kids an opportunity to get involved in activities that would get their minds off of their problems.

“Life’s a struggle, you know.… Some people turn to drugs, and I don’t think that’s a good thing,” he said.

“For me, I just want to see old age,” said Daniels.

“I want to see my own grandchildren grow up and I want to change their minds, too.” 

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