Blue Light Magazine Summer 2016-2017

Issue 38 Summer 2016/2017 www.bluelight.org.au PP 100018977

Ce le bra t i

ng 40 ye a rs!

CONTENTS

President's message 2 BLAST: Blue Light Alternative Strategy for Teenagers 4 The police officers curbing Victoria's youth crime wave 10 40 Wyndham and Hobsons Bay kids roam the Great Ocean Road 12

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We love our volunteers! 15 Bendigo Blue Light boxing to help young people hit their peak 16 Local Heroes Award – Penny Renden 18 Maryborough Blue Light benefits from Community Bank Grant 20 Walk Beside Me 22 Blue Light Youth Conference 2016 24

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Geelong Blue Light Disco 30

Blue Light knows what awaits at ‘Rainbow’s End’ 39

Bendigo Blue Light Disco back after 10 years! 32

Whakātane Blue Light 40

WA PCYC Conference, Perth 2016 34

A day at the zoo 42

Keeping them at school 37

Cunnamulla NAIDOC celebration 43

Farm safety the Blue Light way 38

Blue Light at the Mary Valley Show 44

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Superintendent Debra Robertson

2016 marks the 40th birthday of Blue Light in Victoria! What a remarkable achievement it is that 40 years on our organisation is still going strong and has evolved to meet the ever-changing needs of young people and community policing.

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ike all organisations, nothing would be achieved without the tireless work of the people that make things happen! Thank you to all of our dedicated branches who do a fantastic job pulling together over 400 events that have catered to over 27,000 young people in 2015‑2016. I would encourage all to take a minute to think about the impact and magnitude of that, and appreciate the countless unidentified benefits that it creates for all Victorians. I have also had the pleasure of meeting with some of our branch committees this year and am constantly astounded at what can be achieved with a dedicated team of police members and volunteers who are passionate about youth and the difference they are making, usually with little fuss and no fanfare.

Blue Light Victoria continues to go from strength to strength with another highly productive year, growing our services and activities, enabling us to positively impact more young people from all walks of life.

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In today’s environment it is clear that we can’t stand still and need to be innovative in the way that we operate both at a branch level and at board level. The Blue Light disco is an Australian icon and is an integral part of our business ensuring we interact with young people that are destined to fulfil dreams and ambitions and those that we can assist to ‘dare to dream’ and feel safe about positively thinking about their future. We constantly receive feedback from branches sharing heartfelt and inspiring stories of young people attending events and the opportunities it has created or the change in thinking it has caused.

I was pleased to attend the Chief Commissioner’s Youth Summit in July with Karen. It was interesting to hear insights from young people who have experienced adversity in their lives, from other organisations who are trying to make a difference and also from academics who are experts in a range of areas relating to youth. The evidence is overwhelmingly clear that in order to make a difference we must work together to maximise our impact and spread consistent messaging.

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Following on from this we had our first Blue Light Youth Conference in October. The conference was well attended with 77 police members and over 50 members from like-minded organisations and the public. The conference was opened by Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane, followed by informative speakers from academia and youth organisations (see full story in this issue).

Partnering with other organisations is something that Blue Light has been doing for a long time. Our branches have consistently worked closely with local community organisations to run events and programs and we publicly thank each and every one of them.

Blue Light Victoria has also cemented some important partnerships this year, one of the most important being that of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS). As we all know, to ensure sustainability with activities and outcomes, mentoring plays an essential role and this is the very core of the Big Brothers Big Sisters organisation.

We have just begun the Walk Beside Me Community Mentoring program in partnership with BBBS in the City of Yarra with the Sudanese community and are excited to see the results in relation to crime reduction and increasing protective factors for young people.

This is only one of many programs we are currently working on, including a reoccurring BLAST (Blue Light Alternative Strategies for Teenagers) program at our camp in Maldon. This program is tailored to suit a variety of children who are identified as at-risk and works to build positive relationships with police as well as building on individuals’ problem solving skills, communication skills, confidence and resilience.

This program is a great ice breaker leading into other programs. Thanks to the Sidney Myer Foundation and McDonald's Northern United for funding our first of these camps in 2015/16.

The Victorian Blue Light Youth Camp has had another successful year with over 3000 primary-aged children participating in the BikeEd extension program. Plans are also underway to

begin much-needed renovations on the dining room, conference room, self-catering kitchen and dorm rooms.

We are also very excited to announce that we have been successful in receiving funding through TAC to redevelop our BikeEd program to better align with the Victorian curriculum, Road to Zero and the BikeEd program.

I am looking forward to 2016-2017 as we begin to see growth across our branches with the aim of having a branch in every police division. We are well on the way to achieving this goal.

In closing, I would like to acknowledge the professionalism and commitment of the members of the board of Blue Light; together we are building an organisation that will remain relevant and essential in connecting police with the youth of Victoria.

All of our members are volunteers and I am proud of the time and effort that they are able to dedicate to our cause.

Finally I would like to thank Victoria Police who recognises the value that Blue Light can bring, connecting police with young people in the community.

I am of the firm belief that all police members by the very nature of the ‘office of constable’ are in fact, youth officers and I often repeat this view when I discuss the value of Blue Light.

The positive impact Blue Light people make is best captured in a quote from American civil rights activist Maya Angelou: “People will forget what you said, they will forget with you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel”. Thank you for helping to make the youth of Victoria feel valued and better connected.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.

Regards,

Debra Robertson President – Blue Light Victoria

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BLAST BLUE LIGHT ALTERNATIVE STRATEGY FOR TEENAGERS JUNE 2016 Special thanks to McDonald's Northern United for making this possible.

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Why did you decide to come on the camp?

“ It was an opportunity to get to know the police in the area” Camp participant

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES • build trust levels with others • learn strategies for problem solving • increase self confidence • set goals for the future • experience being trustworthy • learn about teamwork • learn about the importance of asking for support when required • experience being successful in overcoming challenges • have the opportunity to think of mistakes as learning situations • learn the importance of breaking skill acquisition into small chunks

DAY ONE

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n Friday 29 June a group of 23 young people from the northern suburbs of Melbourne headed off, after a McDonald's breakfast, in a bus to make the 1.5-hour journey to the Victorian Blue Light Youth Camp in Maldon along with four police members and a support crew of volunteers.

The aim of this weekend was to provide support and help to young

people to learn skills that will help them increase their capacity to succeed.

The program has also been designed to empower young people and provide them with strategies to enhance their social connectedness, improve their self-esteem, confidence and sense of belonging in their community.

Additionally a cultural component has been added to this camp to connect the young people back to their heritage.

After a stop off in Castlemaine for lunch and some get-to-know-you games we arrived at the camp. The kids were extremely excited about the new surroundings and quickly set about getting their belongings into their room allocations so the fun could begin.

The group set off on a bike ride through Maldon to the BMX track

where everyone enjoyed Harcourt’s apples and a burn around the dirt track for those that were confident enough.

Of course the boys tried to impress everyone with their tricks whilst the girls putted around. We even had the tandem bike for those who were not confident riders.

We headed back to camp to play some games that would help everyone to remember each others’ names. The first of these involved coming up with a nickname that started with the same letter as your own name; we had Just Joey, Tim Tam, Koala Karen and Mad Maddie amongst others.

After a magnificent dinner of spaghetti bolognaise, garlic bread and chocolate mousse everyone headed up to play night minigolf or do a quieter activity like colouring. This was a great

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opportunity for everyone to chat and get to know each other.

Once darkness descended everyone ventured out on a night walk. With torches in hand the group snaked its way around Maldon searching for koalas in trees or anything else they could spot.

Unfortunately with the noise that 23 children make walking around in the dark was sure to make any animal run and hide.

The walk was followed by more games before heading off to bed ready for a big weekend adventure beginning with rock climbing and bubble soccer in the morning.

DAY TWO

ROCK CLIMBING This was another activity that the camp participants were very excited about giving a try. There was a mixture of emotions from overloaded excitement, fear, hesitation and feelings of unease.

Some took on this challenge with gusto and scaled the wall in record times, even organising races up the wall in the end to see who could touch the top first.

Although most took on this exercise with a positive attitude there were a few for who doing this would be a very big challenge.

Fear of heights, lack of trust and fear of failure and having people make fun of you are some of the barriers to taking on a task like this. Luckily with this group we were able to conquer all of these with a mixture of encouragement, discussion and lots of cheering! Everyone had a go and climbed the wall and we were all very proud!

Starting off with a big breakfast of pancakes put everyone in a great mood and ready for a huge day of fun and activities.

All of the kids could hardly contain their excitement at what we were all going to do that day and kept asking “What’s next? What’s next?”

First up was the much anticipated bubble soccer. If you have ever done this you will have an appreciation of just how tiring this is. It was fantastic to watch everyone having a great time and lots of laughs as they rolled around the field trying to kick the ball into the goals.

In the end it becomes not so much about kicking the ball and more about knocking each other over!

BENEFITS OF ROCK CLIMBING • Improves self esteem and confidence • Encourages youth to believe in themselves, their abilities, and their future • Develops concentration and cognitive functioning • Reduces stress and improves decision making • Improves motor skills • Creates trust and co-operation • Fosters the development of critical thinking skills • Stimulates flow and creativity

ADDED BONUS This program is designed specifically to provide help and support to the young people involved.

What wasn’t expected was the added bonus of what this program provided to the staff that were involved.

“Such a great experience to engage with the kids over the couple of days at BLAST Camp. I enjoyed leading and guiding the kids in problem solving and developing confidence to undertake different activities.

I found it rewarding to see the kids grow and develop over the short period of time and enjoyed enhancing positive relationships between the young people and police. I look forwarding to participating in BLAST Camp again in the future.”

Senior Constable Leah Kersing

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NOT ALL FUN AND GAMES… WELL IT WAS REALLY Day two of the camp involved a good mix of different types of activities, all of which were not only a lot of fun but had a purpose that closely aligned with the objectives of the camp program.

The group split into two for our next session. One group had a discussion about the police and their role in the community. With the kids feeling very comfortable with the police members at the camp it enabled them to ask any questions that they had about policing and crime, keeping in mind that many of these children’s only experience with police has been negative.

The questions ranged from how do you become a police officer to have you ever had to use your gun and everything in between. It was a fantastic opportunity for the police to talk about how they do their job and why sometimes people need to be arrested.

After the questions everyone got to have a go at wearing the police kit and handcuffs!

“ I learnt that police aren't like in movies, I learnt how to make friends, I learnt lots of things.”

Camp participant, age 11

MFB BOXING Sal and Owen (Butler) are both community liaison officers for the MFB and work with many different people.

Sal and Owen gave the kids a few tips and pointers on boxing.

We talked to the kids about their rights in relation to self-defence, what they are allowed to do and what they’re not allowed to do.

The participants had a very tiring and fun time learning some basic boxing techniques. As a result of this session, two of the boys have since been linked in with a boxing gym.

One of the most surprising things about this session was how good the girls were. It was great to see how focussed and strong they were.

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NOT SO LAZY AFTERNOON The afternoon of day two started off with a good game of Nerf Wars. This game involved setting up the conference room into two sides divided by barrels.

Each team is fully equipped with safety goggles, Nerf guns and foam bullets.

Once the lights go out and the music starts it’s time to shoot up a storm.

With both adults and kids playing this game it was a lot of fun.

More bike riding around the camp bike trails was followed by another fantastic dinner of chicken schnitzel and veggies, followed by a jelly dessert.

After dinner everyone put on their PJs in readiness for some more games and a movie night.

Games included noodle hockey and a talent quest. What amazing talent we had amongst the group!

It was fantastic to see the confidence people had to get up and have a go in front of everyone. From singing, dancing, rapping and comedy we had it all.

The movie chosen was Firehouse Dog. Amazingly everyone settled in and watched the movie and enjoyed popcorn and hot chocolate. There were some who never saw the end of the movie, falling asleep instead!

FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY SUPPORT RESPECT TEACHING 8

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DAY THREE

THE GREAT EGG DROP The objective of this task was to come up with a design that would protect a raw egg from breaking when dropped from a great height.

Everyone thought this was an impossible task but were keen to give it a try.

Breaking into four groups each group was given the same supplies of an egg, straws, masking tape, paper and textas.

It was up to them to create a design that would beat all of the others when it came to dropping them off the balcony.

Each group used their problem solving skills and teamwork to come up with some amazing ideas, some of which worked brilliantly, others which didn’t work as well in practice as was hoped.

After numerous drops and second and third drops the victors were team Tim Tam! Before heading home we had some presentations to our volunteers and a sausage sizzle lunch.

THE END…BUT ALSO JUST THE BEGINNING Our time at camp sadly had to come to an end. There was not one person on this camp who didn’t benefit in some way. Getting to know these young people and learning about the struggles that they are going through has given staff a better understanding. This program was a very successful collaboration between organisations and people that are determined to make a difference.

We thank McDonald’s Northern

United for providing the funding to make this possible. We would also like to thank the organisations involved including Blue Light Victoria, Victoria Police, Victorian Blue Light Youth Camps and the MFB Community Liaison Office.

This would also not have been possible without the generous people that attended the camp and gave their time. Thank you to police members Tim Forster, Jo Parissis, Leah Kersing and

Matt David. Also thank you to Domenic Castagna, Luke Bryan, Katherine O’Donnell and Karen Burns.

And lastly to the stars of our show, the young people: Triniti, Joey, Maddie O, Maddie B, Lucas, Shaleuya, Jade, Macka, Mo, Tekayla, Shannon, Rowan, Oscar, Amber, Wanyan, Helena, Kai, Mustapha, Halime, Kahlaya, Joey and Makayla.

You were all fantastic and made everyone very proud! We look forward to an ongoing journey.

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THE POLICE OFFICERS CURBING VICTORIA’S YOUTH CRIME WAVE As Melbourne grapples with its youth crime problem, Tony Brewin and Chris McGeachan just might have the solution.

By Wes Hosking,

Weekend, Herald Sun Q: You’ve been embedded as police youth workers in the City of Yarra community for more than a decade?

McGeachan: A decade ago we were dealing with probably similar to what we’re dealing with now as far as numbers go, just different faces, different cultures and so on.

Brewin: We’ve been able to observe them at a microscopic level. So we’ve been able to judge when things are getting worse and better.

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hey’ve spent more than a decade pioneering programs to help keep children out of trouble. The Victoria Police youth resource officers, based at housing estates within the Yarra City municipality, assist youngsters and their families from birth through to high school.

The program starts with giving support to parents. It then extends to assisting children at primary and secondary school.

Kids are taught basics, such as how to join in activities and share, with teaching scaled up, depending on age, to tackle areas such as managing impulses and aggression.

Between 120 and 150 children regularly attend weekly sport sessions, taking in soccer, basketball, AFL, athletics and more.

The sessions are a first point of contact for many families and have grown to include camps during the school holidays and representation at sporting meets.

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Q: And which is it?

Brewin: In Yarra we had a spike last year.

We had a few guys we had an eye on we thought would be involved in crime, and they were, and we had as many supports around them as possible. What surprised us was they took another seven or eight boys along for the ride who have strong, stable families and they were very committed to their education. And that surprised us.

Q: What do you put that down to?

Brewin: I think obviously there’s a strong bit of peer group pressure going on there. Superficially they looked as though everything was going fine, but it’s not.

McGeachan: But it’s also that lack of family – immediate family and extended family. We’re not always around and when that kid does decide to run with that group there’s nobody following, no one knows. Then all of a sudden they’ve gotten three cars before we’ve even heard about it.

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Q: Has social media made things worse?

Brewin: We can’t keep the influence nice and tight in here. Young people now hook up with people from Dandenong and Hampton Park and sometimes those influences are much stronger.

They’re well organised in terms of their networking and their friends and all that sort of stuff. So they can get together quickly, they can move around quickly.

Q: It sounds like broken families are a factor?

McGeachan: That traditional family, the traditional structure, isn’t there.

Dad might be in another tower in the same estate and the kids never see Dad. Brewin: Out of all our lads who are getting into strife, there’s not one who has a dad living at home. Not one.

Q: Some of the families are quite disconnected?

Brewin: There’s a school in Richmond, a primary school, where they just had parent-teacher interviews. In one class one parent turned up out of like 28 kids. It’s not because they don’t want to. They just don’t understand, they’re disconnected. They really want their kids to go to school.

McGeachan: Their lives are all over the shop. They haven’t got that structure.

Q: These families are doing it tough?

Brewin: People who are living in poverty tend to be having compounding issues. There are so many risk factors associated with those families. There are not any parents around here who have come as refugees who don’t suffer significant trauma.

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Q: Trauma leads to other problems?

Brewin: One of the big problems associated with trauma is the fact it affects brain development, which affects impulse control. So there’s a push towards social, emotional literacy in schools, in kindergartens and in the way that organisations speak with each other and to parents and communities.

Q: Some of the refugees have a fear of authority because of their experiences?

McGeachan: Police in their country, where they’ve come from, have taken people away and not brought them back. They still fear police and authority.

Q: It’s not a simple problem, is it?

Brewin: We have networks where we work with people right from maternal healthcare nurses, kindergarten teachers, primary school teachers, social workers, psychologists, and we work together on trying to eliminate or reduce the root causes, the risk factors associated with living in public housing.

Q: Sport is also a big part of your solution?

Brewin: It keeps kids busy. It’s that time from school finishing to dinner time.

It can be a little bit like Lord of the Flies down there because the public housing estates down the bottom are the backyard for thousands of people.

Organising sports and recreation for those young people is sort of our first line of defence for your six to 18-year-olds.

Q: What do you say to those who think we should lock up delinquents and let them rot?

Brewin: People who commit crime need to be arrested and brought to justice. But not a lot of good stuff comes from young people who are incarcerated. So the long-term solutions are going to begin with engaging families and trying to support them.

Q: How many kids are involved in the sports programs?

Brewin: 120-150 you’d see, weekly.

McGeachan: That’s soccer, basketball, AFL, athletics, tennis, cricket. In school holidays we do camps. But our weeklies are after school, all sort of between the 4-6pm mark. They’re not mandated by courts or anything. They just come because they want to.

Q: What drives you to keep going?

McGeachan: The feeling that I can offer these kids something to make their lives a bit better. It’s not rocket science.

Brewin: When we started we said we wanted a doughnut — no crime at the end — a pretty lofty goal.

Every so often we have a week or two with no youth crime in Yarra. The stats come back with none and we go, “There you go.”

Q: How have you responded?

Brewin: We’ve really tried to jell this community together because the answers will come from this community. They’re not going to come from a top-down approach.

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40 WYNDHAM AND HOBSONS BAY KIDS ROAM THE GREAT OCEAN ROAD

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Wynbay Blue Light sponsored 40 children from five schools in the Wyndham and Hobsons Bay area to a fun packed leadership weekend at Camp Wilkin in Anglesea.

The group split into four groups and were lead by nine of its regular volunteers.

Story and images by Don Kenny

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rriving on-board the police coach (supplied by Victoria Police Transport Branch) early Friday evening (28 October 2016) the group settled into their accommodation. After the camp staff explained the safety and respect rules, some free time and group bonding was enjoyed before dinner.

After dinner the group split into four and spent time bonding in their groups. They were colour-coded but each group came up with a group name for the weekend.

The weekend camp is the highlight of the Wynbay calendar and is fully funded by the Wynbay Blue Light committee. The focus of the camp

is to challenge kids to move out of their comfort zone and look at group dynamics through the eyes of a leader.

This was achieved through activities including the low ropes, rock climbing wall, flying fox, archery and the leap of faith.

While the activities provided at the camp were amazing, the group also eat

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fantastic food and make new friends.

They walked the Great Ocean Road and streets of Anglesea snapping away for a photo challenge that finished in two points between first and last in the four groups.

The beautiful weather on Sunday meant the group could relocate to Point Roadknight beach. After three hours of beach-led activities the group 14

returned to camp to see what each other achieved the day before at the photo challenge. After much laughter from viewing images of the weekend some prizes were presented to kids that the supervisors felt showed great leadership and maturity.

The Wynbay Blue Light Disco is held on every second Friday of each month at the Point Cook Community Centre,

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Cheetham Street, Point Cook from 7 until 9.30PM. Wynbay Blue Light returns approximately $15,000 per year to the local community, through the schools and clubs. Any adult or child interested in attending in a supervisory role or just for a dance please contact the President Leading Senior Constable Penny Renden for further information.

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WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS!

Luke Bryan comes from a family of 10 children. Some of his siblings also volunteer at the Preston Blue Light discos.

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uke started coming to the Blue Light when he was eight years old and really loved it. When he got older he realised he was a bit too old to come so he now volunteers.

He’s now 17 years old and is thriving as a volunteer. Luke decided last year to partake in the Duke of Edinburgh Program and volunteered his time at the local youth centre as well as the Blue Lights.

In July this year, Luke came along to our BLAST camp in Maldon as one of the leaders. The camp participants were grades 5 and 6, and really looked up to Luke. He was a great mentor for the young camp participants, as he is at the Blue Light events. The camp was sponsored by McDonald's, and the local manager also attended. She, along with other Blue Light volunteers and police members, saw potential in Luke. The president of the Preston Blue Light was able to complete a reference for Luke and he was successful in applying and getting a job at his local McDonald’s. Luke has been working there now for several months and is really enjoying it.

When asked what Luke likes most about Blue Lights, he said “Getting to know people and helping out with everything. It has helped me out in a lot of ways and now I have got a job and I am loving it!” And that’s exactly what he does. The Blue Light events run like a well oiled machine with Luke’s help, and with the help of all of our volunteers who have been with us for so many years!

Here’s to our volunteers, where would we be without them!?

“ I would like to say a big thanks to Jo for all she has done for me and my family. When I ever need someone to talk to Jo is one of the people I can go and talk to. When she asked me if I would come on the camp I was surprised of all the other people she could of asked she asked me and I would like to give Jo a big thank you so much Jo and I am glad to call you my friend and she is one of the best police officers there are.”

Luke Bryan

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Hit Factory head coach Danniel Burton and Sergeant Adam Woods of Bendigo Police and Bendigo Blue Light.

Boxer Jocelyn Amiet.

Nate Lenaghan, Chase Elliott and Kade Elliott hit us with their best shot.

Chloe Lenaghan, Millicent Woods and Alexia Woods.

BENDIGO BLUE LIGHT BOXING TO HELP YOUNG PEOPLE HIT THEIR PEAK

Bendigo police are hitting out at negativity by offering young people an opportunity to try boxing.

“It gives them skills they might not have to deal with situations they might not necessarily have been able to deal with in the past.”

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Hit Factory head coach Danniel Burton.

Sergeant Adam Woods of Bendigo Police and Blue Light Bendigo.

Alexia Woods receives instruction from Hit Factory head coach Danniel Burton.

Chase Elliott tries his hand at boxing at Hit Factory in Golden Square.

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youth boxing open day was held in October in conjunction with Bendigo Blue Light and Hit Factory Boxing Club.

Sergeant Adam Woods has been instrumental in planning the program which is aimed at young people aged 12 to 16 years and will provide an insight into the sport and the gym.

Some participants for the program have been individually chosen by police but the program is open to anyone who feels they will benefit.

“It’s not something new, but it’s something that’s probably new to Bendigo,” Sergeant Woods said.

“We want to try to break down some of the barriers between police and the youth of Bendigo; some of the misconceptions, some of the concerns they might have or reasons why they wouldn’t trust police or want to associate with them.

“We are trying to alleviate a few of those problems, as well as get them involved in a great sport.”

Sergeant Woods disagrees with perceptions of boxing as a violent sport.

“I believe it teaches them discipline

and, in fact, it’s the exact opposite [of violence],” he said.

“It gives them skills they might not have to deal with situations they might not necessarily have been able to deal with in the past.”

Jocelyn Amiet turned to boxing about five years ago to further develop the skills she had gained from karate and ninjutsu.

“I wanted to pick up my footwork and fitness in general,” she said. The 26-year‑old fell in love with the sport and has since started boxing competitively in the women’s open 54-kilogram division.

“I’ve had 14 fights now and won the Victorian title twice and been to the nationals twice, so my goal is to win the national title,” she said.

“I’ll need to win the Victorian title again to qualify.”

Having studied martial arts since the age of 9, she considers boxing a difficult sport, “In that you need both speed and strength, but you’ve also got to maintain a weight division,” she said.

“It’s hard maintaining that strength without dropping weight at the same time, so we do a lot of training to maintain weight and build cardio endurance.

“We do a lot of drills and sparring and just work on technique, and we also incorporate a lot of weight-based or strength training.”

The schoolteacher said there were many potential benefits for young people interested in taking up the sport.

“There’s a great atmosphere at the gym, even if you don’t intend on competing at all,” she said.

“It’s great for fitness, great for mental wellbeing, and just the sense of solidarity amongst the members of the gym, it’s a really great atmosphere to be in.”

Keeping a cool head under pressure is essential to boxing, Hit Factory Boxing Club head coach Danniel Burton said.

“Footwork and stance is priority,” he said.

“Not getting hit is right behind that, and then just learning the correct technique.

“Along with doing those things comes the fitness side. Discipline is key to building those skills.

“You need to work hard to be a boxer,” Mr Burton said.

The youth boxing program is run at the Hit Factory Boxing Club at 28 Allingham Street, Golden Square.

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LOCAL HEROES AWARD – PENNY RENDEN

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e were very pleased and proud to hear that Senior Constable Penelope Renden had been selected to receive the 2016 Lalor Heroes Award in recognition for her dedication, commitment and support of the Wynbay Blue Light.

Joanne Ryan from the electorate of Lalor says, “We are fortunate to have many devoted residents who support and keep local organisations alive and vibrant. Volunteers are the backbone of our diverse community and are celebrated in many forums across any given year. My “Lalor Heroes” awards add another such occasion to the community calendar.”

This award goes a small way towards recognising the contribution that people such as Leading Senior 18

Constable Penelope Renden make to the community. It is a way of letting people know that we really appreciate their hard work and dedication.

Penny has been involved in Blue Light for the past 20 years and as President of Wynbay Blue Light since 2007. The branch services areas within Hobsons Bay and Wyndham and runs dance events and an annual leadership camp. Wynbay have a strong group of volunteers that includes police members and community volunteers.

Penny says “This award goes to all of my team who work extremely hard to make our events a great success for young people. I would like to make special mention to Don Kenny whose support and dedication is something we just couldn’t do without”.

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“ The award is not for the Wynbay executives but rather for all the 20 Wynbay committee members.

Penny has been a fantastic leader and devotes an enormous amount of her personal time to running the local Blue Light.”

Don Kenny

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Danny Mahfoud of the Wynbay Blue Light committee describes Penny as having enormous energy, compassion to deal with all sorts of people and children. He is very proud to be her ‘right hand man – Vice President’.

“The effort she puts into the annual camp is amazing; we take up to 50 kids camping and it all runs so smoothly due to her organisation skills and planning.

She has never neglected her duties as President, even when she’s had full on busy weeks at work, she has always cared for Wynbay as you would care for your very own business. The ideas she brings to the committee are well thought up and I have always enjoyed learning from her, and I know she enjoys learning from me and others as well. She’s a very ‘down to earth person’ that gets along with everyone.

– Danny Mahfoud, Wynbay Blue Light Vice President

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MARYBOROUGH BLUE LIGHT BENEFITS FROM COMMUNITY BANK GRANT

The recipients of the Avoca District Co-operative’s Community Investment Fund were excited to receive their share in almost $19,000 in grants.

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Sixteen not-for-profit groups received a share of almost $19,000 from the Avoca District Co-operative Limited’s Community Investment Fund at a special presentation event held in Avoca on 5 July 2016.

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s the managing company for the Avoca Community Bank® Branch, the Maryborough Branch and the St Arnaud Agency of the Bendigo Bank, the Co‑operative donates a portion of its profits back to the community and since its inception in 1999, it has provided almost $1 million to very worthy groups, events and programs.

Its latest grant round has funded projects to the value of $18,931 with the recipients coming from community groups located in Avoca, Maryborough, St Arnaud and surrounds.

Maryborough Blue Light was successful in receiving a grant for $2000 to put towards running the BLAST camp program for at-risk youth at the Victorian Blue Light Youth Camp in Maldon.

Maryborough Rotary Club, Nalderun Upper Loddon, Victoria Police and the Victoria Department of Education and Training have also come together to support this camp.

Member for Ripon the Honourable Louise Staley has also supported this initiative by kindly donating money from her own personal wage.

The camp is aimed at Indigenous youth in the Maryborough catchment who Denis believes will benefit greatly from positive engagement with police.

The camp also focussed on activities that build leadership skills.

40 young people attended the camp and we look forward to hearing their story and seeing plenty of photos.

The camp was scheduled to take place in November 2016.

Congratulations Maryborough Blue Light on receiving this grant!

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WALK BESIDE ME Blue Light Victoria and Big Brothers Big Sisters are excited to have received funding for a Mentoring Program for the South Sudanese community of the City of Yarra.

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t has been identified that the young people in this community face post‑settlement challenges and would benefit from such support.

‘WALK BESIDE ME’ has been designed to offer the community the opportunity to play an active role in the development of the Group Mentoring Program for their young people.

Meetings with enthusiastic community members are underway and a community forum took place in November. The forum brought together the community to start the discussions and begin to shape what the program will look like.

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The community will decide which young people will participate and which members of the community would make good mentors. Those who wish to be involved but who are unable to be mentors, have the opportunity to be part of the Steering Committee.

Selected mentors will undergo mentor developmentm run by Big Brothers Big Sisters, as well as additional training and capacity building throughout the program, gaining

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valuable experience and knowledge for their future career prospects.

Being community directed from initial planning stages, it is our hope that, post the 12-month pilot, the program will continue on as a successful community-led program.

Blue Light Victoria would like to take this opportunity to thank the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department for believing in the concept of our program.

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BLUE LIGHT YOUTH CONFERENCE 2016

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Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane

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National Blue Light Magazine Summer 2016/2017

his year Blue Light held a Youth Conference which aimed to provide a professional development opportunity for police members, organisations working in the youth space and the general public. It was a fantastic opportunity to hear from a variety of speakers both in the academic space but also from some who are working on the ground with young people.

The conference was held at the Richmond Football Club on 11 October.

It was a full day starting off with an opening from Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane. AC Leane started out by reiterating that less young people are committing offences, however the offences are more violent and recidivism is up. Peers are the strongest influence when it comes to committing crimes; when young people ‘don’t fit in’, it can be the start of trouble. AC Leane believes that there are many things that are contributing to criminal activity in young people including the drug ice, youth carrying weapons because they don’t feel safe and feel the need to protect themselves, unemployment and racism amongst others.

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Tom Brunzell

Through discussion with young people it is clear that they see school as the best deterrent of offending and they believe that expelling kids from school should be banned.

Young people often look to schools for guardianship – one constant in their lives. ‘Lock-out’ is a common term used by young people who are disconnected.

A positive outcome of the recent Chief Commissioners Youth Summit has been that Anglicare has raised the age for leaving their system from 18 years to 21 years; DHHS are also reviewing their services that are delivered to young people.

Our next speaker was Tom Brunzell.

Tom began his career in education as a Teacher for America (TFA) corps at NYC P.S. #28 in the Bronx. He received his bachelor degree (B.A.) from Yale University, then a teaching masters degree (M.S.T.) from Pace University and a school leadership masters degree (Ed.M.) from the Bank Street School of Education.

Tom presents internationally on topics of transforming school cultures, high expectations for differentiated instruction, trauma-informed practice, wellbeing and the application of positive psychology, and effective school leadership.

Tom spoke about trauma informed practice and how it impacts a young person’s life and that education is an invaluable tool for those working with youth. Education is a protective factor that young people need in their life.

Berry St Education Model looks at how to keep young people affected by trauma in school and how to help them to learn effectively and teach them emotional control. The inability to self soothe and emotional dysregulation is now considered to be a cause of aggressive and violent behaviour which can also lead to the use of maladaptive coping such as the use of drugs and alcohol. It is essential for us to recognise that violent crime is not the problem – it is the result of many problems.

These are very powerful and thought provoking words. Research is telling us that we need to choose rehabilitation over incarceration and develop intervention that identifies risks.

Trauma: an overwhelming experience that can undermine the individual’s belief that the world is good and safe.

Directly experiencing trauma, witnessing another trauma, learning about traumatic events or exposure to adversity through stories can lead to trauma – culminating in stress related disorders such as PTSD. It is a fact that 40 per cent of children are trauma effected.

Tom talked about the three most important cultural factors: love, selfregulation and gratitude, and how important these are for young people to succeed in life. Other important factors are persistence, vitality/zest, social intelligence and hope/optimism.

The more of these that you have the better your outcomes will be.

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Jarryd Williams

After a morning tea prepared by STREAT we had Jarryd Williams from STREAT. Jarryd is responsible for all youth programs and vocational training provision. He is a multiple awardwinning youth worker with over 20 years’ experience in the industry and more than 10 years managing teams of youth workers, social workers and psychologists.

Jarryd was presenting at the conference about STREAT and the role they play in helping young people achieve.

Starting in 2009 STREAT began with a small coffee cart (which wasn’t such a great idea!), then moved to a café in Melbourne Central. They are a social enterprise program which over the last five years has worked with more than 450 young people. Aiming to be working with 250 youth each year by 2017, STREAT make it their mission to work with the most disadvantaged young people in our community.

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Professor Pamela Snow

Jarryd believes that the most important factor when dealing with young people is communication.

All of the kids that are involved with the program have mental health issues and have experienced trauma.

He believes that STREAT provides them with a place where they belong and where they get lots of empathy and compassion. Research has shown that recidivism decreases once belonging begins.

One of the programs that is on offer to recidivists runs for 20 weeks and goes through all the aspects of hospitality including on-the‑job training whilst also providing access to any support services that are needed. The program also works hard on changing the thinking around the fact that – crime (makes money) V social inclusion (modest financial return).

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Professor Pamela Snow had the most interesting title for her presentation “Yep. Nup. Dunno. Whatever. Looking at the everyday communication abilities of adolescents in the youth justice system.

A Professor and Head of the Rural Health School at the Bendigo campus of La Trobe University. Pamela’s research conducted in Victoria and New South Wales youth justice settings shows that around 50 per cent of young offenders struggle to understand complex instructions and are not effective communicators of their own thoughts and feelings.

Research (Hart & Risley, 1995) shows that socioeconomic status effects the exposure that children have to words with children of parents on welfare benefits at 616 words per hour, children of working class parents – 1251 words per hour and children of professional parents – 2153 words per hour.

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Johnathan Binge

By age 4 this equates to children of professional parents having a 30-million word advantage over those children of parents on welfare. A longitudinal follow-up of the children in this study at ages 9 and 10 showed strong links between language exposure and academic outcomes.

So what does this have to do with young offenders?

Language difficulties make it hard to: • Tell a story (eg. provide evidence, speak up for oneself) • Consider listener perspective (i.e. judge what the listener needs to know/ already knows/ may not already know) • Use specific vocabulary (instead of “you know”, “thing”) • Understand idiomatic/ figurative language, even at a simple level • Get a joke/discern good humour from intended offence

• Be an assertive communicator who can share the load, eg, can: • Correct a misunderstanding on part of the other speaker • Avoid and/or repair inadvertent offence • Reflect on one’s own communicative competence.

Most importantly – What can you do?

Blue Light’s President and Supt of Road Policing Debra Robertson says “I am of the firm belief that all police members by the very nature of the ‘office of constable’ are in fact, youth officers”. With this in mind it could be said that everyone could take Pamela's advice on board to: • Remember that behaviour is a form of communication • Assume that language skills are compromised • Recognise that minimalist responses may be the best the young person can do

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Simplify your own language (avoid sarcasm, metaphors, idioms, double entendre) • Minimise distractions for important interactions • Allow extra time for processing and responding • Get the young person’s attention before engaging • Show interest and engage when the young person opens up • Remember that young people go to great lengths to conceal language difficulties.

Taking a break from our speakers we were entertained by a performance from Johnathan Binge. Johnathan is a young Indigenous boy who has both been a participant and a volunteer at Copper Jo’s Preston (Darebin) Blue Lights. Johnathan and his friend sang a few songs for the crowd.

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Mark Halsey

Mark Halsey presented as a follow on from the Chief Commissioner’s Youth Summit.

Mark is a Professor of Criminology in the School of Law, Flinders University, and co-author of the book Young Offenders: Crime, Prison and the Struggle to Desist. He has received three successive Australian Research Council grants and currently holds a four-year Australian Research Council Future Fellowship examining the causes, experiences and consequences of intergenerational incarceration.

Mark’s recent presentation at the Chief Commissioner’s Youth Summit was both insightful and relevant to the policing of young people today and as stated earlier there have already been changes made as a result of the summit. Mark spoke about the effects of repeat offending and repeated periods of detention. How can people break this cycle? He demonstrates with a timeline of a person and the events (both positive and negative) along with the periods of incarceration they have in their lives. It becomes very evident that it is a cycle that is very hard to break and to get out of.

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Doctor Kate Barrelle

Our last speaker for the day was Doctor Kate Barrelle, also from STREAT. As a clinical and forensic psychologist, Kate’s career has centred around people and their wellbeing. Her early career focused on community mental health, and also abused and neglected children in care. Since moving to Melbourne to co-found STREAT with Rebecca Scott, Kate completed her PhD which involved interviews with former radicals about disengagement from extremism and their subsequent societal reintegration. In addition to sitting on the STREAT Board, Kate works as a freelance consultant with a particular focus on projects that aim to assist disenfranchised youth attain sustainable livelihood and belonging through mentoring, skills training and holistic social support. Today Kate was here to talk to everyone about worker fatigue and taking care of ourselves when working with high risk young people directly experiencing trauma.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, directly experiencing trauma, witnessing another’s trauma, learning about traumatic events, or exposure to aversive details can lead

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to trauma and stress-related disorders such as reactive attachment disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or acute stress.

Compassion fatigue is a state experienced by those helping people or animals in distress; it is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it can create a secondary traumatic stress for the helper.

The symptoms are: • Sleeplessness • Exhaustion • Hyper vigilance • Feeling overwhelmed • Feeling fearful • Decrease of cognitive ability • Inability to embrace complexity • Not listening • Emotional rollercoaster • Avoidance • Guilt and minimising • Poor self-care • Impaired judgement • Less exposure to client suffering – more resilience.

As workers who are susceptible to compassion fatigue it is important to have strategies for prevention.

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AC B H S FLA Blue Light 1994 PL Jan - Feb 1994 p22

These include: • Understanding what it is (psycho education) • Reflective/clinical supervision (debriefing) • Humour • Ongoing skills training • Self-assessment of compassion fatigue and life balance • Balancing case load • Self-care buddy system • Exercise and good nutrition • Flexible scheduling – substantial breaks.

Strategies for intervention: • Awareness • Mindfulness • Cognitive behavioural intervention • Peer family support and assertive self-care • Caseload adjustment • Referral to professionals • Anti-stress kit – family and friends to be aware – pets – positivity - reading • Mindfulness – deliberate fullness of attention in moment – observe reality of present moment – being present without striving or judging.

As you have read the conference was a day that was full of relevant information.

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GEELONG BLUE LIGHT DISCO The annual Geelong Police Blue Light Disco dance parties were held each day from Monday 21/11/16 to Friday 25/11/16 (11.30am to 2.00pm) at the Geelong West Town Hall.

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rade 5/6 students from primary schools in the region were invited with numbers of attending students from the schools varying from as low as five students from a smaller school to 146 from one of the larger schools.

Over the five days over 3,000 students attended along with approximately 150 staff members (teachers).

A core group of police members and staff organised the events with other police members/unsworn staff/ volunteers/family members/friends assisting at various times over the days with running the events. A large amount of time and effort was required to organise and stage the discos with members involved devoting many hours into this on a voluntary basis.

At the beginning of each disco, with an audience of over 600 students and accompanying teachers, Leading Senior Constable Robbie Noggler from the Community Engagement Unit at Geelong gave a talk that this year related to personal identity protection, its relevance in relation to each individual student and what each individual can do to become safer when online.

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This talk was extremely well received and has become a major part of the discos – the feedback from both students and teachers being positive. Many schools followed up from these discos with curriculum and class discussions/activities aimed at expanding the issues that were raised during this talk. Previous year’s talks

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have covered topical issues relating to youth including cyber bullying, Facebook protocols and dangers, domestic violence, mechanisms for coping with challenges and general police/youth issues.

The primary school Blue Light discos that are run by Geelong B.L.D. for the younger 10/11/12 year olds (Grades 5/6)

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are an annual event. Having these events run by police, during school time and with teachers attending, encourages ongoing communication and liaison between the schools and police – feedback from the students and teachers is constantly encouraging.

Breaking down the barriers is a key component of the discos.

Police members for the most part are in uniform and interacting with students on the dance floor and stage each day, as well as interacting during the sales of confectionery and glow products.

Appreciation is extended from the Blue Light Disco committee to all members and their families who assisted in 2016.

It cannot be underestimated or overemphasised the impact these events have on students who are entering their teenage years and how it promotes such positive views and opinions by them towards police – views that, although impossible to measure, may well assist police and the community as they mature into adults.

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BENDIGO BLUE LIGHT DISCO BACK AFTER 10 YEARS!

Held at the Bendigo Trades Hall, Bendigo Blue Light held its first dance party in over 10 years on 11 November!

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he event was well attended by the two groups (Grade 5/6 and Year 7-9), and the feedback was that everybody had a blast! Prizes were generously donated by Bendigo Bank, Boris Murgers, Bendigo District RSL, Neon Peach and Royal Jim’s Barber – and snacks from IGA Strathvillage.

Photos taken by the talented Photos by Lise.

Bendigo Blue Light has had a great resurgence with the formation of a great committee of local police and volunteers. The branch is organising a variety of programs and events in order to engage with young people of all backgrounds and ages in the area.

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AC B H S FLA Blue Light 1984 Horsham PL Oct 1984 p188

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WA PCYC CONFERENCE, PERTH 2016

On 26 and 27 October, delegates from Victoria Blue Light attended the National Youth and Community Justice Conference hosted by Western Australia PCYC at Burswood on Swan.

Report by Leading Senior Constable Jo Parissis and Sergeant Paul Martin

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boriginal Elder Neville Collard conducted a traditional welcome acknowledging the land of the ‘Noongar’ people, the traditional aboriginal owners of the site, before handing over to our MC. The conference was hosted by Verity James, a very quirky and personable woman! Verity has been one of Perth’s leading TV and radio presenters for over 25 years. She kept the conference running almost to the minute and entertained us with her unexpected sense of humour!

Keynote speakers included Dr Sue Gordon. Sue was appointed as the Commissioner for Aboriginal Planning in 1986 and was the first Aboriginal person to head a government department in WA. She was also appointed the first Aboriginal Magistrate in the state’s history. Sue had a really interesting story to tell us about her life, being raised in state care after being removed from her family. Sue is a true inspiration having overcome so many obstacles in her life, to go on to become one of the most respected Elders in the Aboriginal community. She also became the first Aboriginal PCYS President and continues to work tirelessly to support the community and the young people.

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The Honourable Wayne Martin AC, QC, Chief Justice of Western Australia, spoke about the rates of Indigenous incarceration. In 1989, 2600 out of 90,000 people incarcerated were Aboriginal.

In 2016, the rate is 4000 out of 100,000.

So the numbers are not reducing, they are increasing. Mr Martin went on to say that if the prison population were to increase by 10 per cent, the crime rate would only reduce by 1 per cent, indicating that incarceration is not the answer. He further stated that 52 per cent of prisoners would return to prison.

He reinforced how ineffective a punitive approach is with studies identifying that when young people enter the prison system over and over that their prospects of rehabilitation are reduced. In many cases their situations become a hopeless cycle. Interestingly he passed comment on the age at which a young person can be deemed criminally responsible of committing a crime; in Victoria (all of Australia in fact) the age is 10. This is not so in many other overseas jurisdictions; in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden for instance, the age is 15. A much greater and intense welfare-related approach to youth is therefore taken.

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He spoke about what he described as ‘intergenerational trauma’ which is very much aligned to what we heard from Professor Mark Halsey at our recent Blue Light Youth Conference. He felt that PCYC and Blue Light are best placed to assist local communities to develop their capacity in treating the underlying issues affecting many at-risk young people through diversionary programs.

In summary, he stressed that preventative programs and early intervention are the key, particularly so for our young people. He urged a move away from punitive policy to a community intervention model.

Federal Police Commander Brian McDonald from the Centre for CounterTerrorism presented. Brian discussed the fact that it is a given that everyone has access to a weapon, whether it be a kitchen knife, piece of rope, etc. Young people are staying up all night watching social media for ISIL killings. He talked about the ISIL magazine Rumiyah. This magazine is very bold, is not hidden, easy to access if you want to access it. Brian provided some insights into the way ISIL uses social media to spread their message. They want the community

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“ Money spent at the front end delivers much greater value than spending to deal with problems at the back end.”

The Honourable Wayne Martin AC, QC, Chief Justice of Western Australia

to do their dirty work and carry out their attacks, hence the recruitment and radicalisation of young people.

Brian discussed some signs that young people may be becoming radicalised, such as spending time locked away in their bedrooms on the internet, being secretive about online viewing habits, use of online networking platforms to promote violence, downloading large amounts of violent extremist content.

The process is unique to each person.

Early intervention is best for these young people. He recommends using the National Security Hotline 1800 123 400.

He further stated that prison does not actually de-radicalise a person. Work must be done with community members that have an impact on the youth.

John (Jock) Gillespe, the CEO of WA PCYC, addressed delegates. Jock was a serving WA police member from 1974 until 2005. He spoke about the challenges and successes of WA PCYC over the years and talked about the transition they went through from police to civilian management. Their transition has been similar to that of Victoria Blue Light, indicating that PCYC needed to be more aligned with the needs of WA youth policing priorities. PCYC is also facing challenges with dealing with increasing facility costs and is now looking at ways to become more mobile and flexible.

As well as this he believes that the sector must seek to avoid multiple agencies competing against each other for funding to supply the same or

similar services. Jock indicated that he would be keen to run a workshop with members from other states to discuss work in the youth space. He stated, you can’t keep increasing the police force without increasing youth services in the community. More police will mean more arrests, therefore more young people to deal with and less services available.

There are many services within the youth space that don’t talk to each other working with the same young people.

Comedian Andrew Horabin was extremely easy to listen to. With a demeanour similar to that of Carl Barron, Andrew has written a book called “Bullshift Get More Honesty and Straight Talk at Work.” Andrew kept us entertained by calling us all out on

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some of the excuses by running a quick survey. Each question was a score out of 10, with a total out of 170. Different scores meant different things, for example, if you scored between 30-60, he says this is not healthy. “Maybe you need to leave the workplace if you can’t change it or yourself. Is there someone or something that can help you to build the courage for a more honest life?”

A score of 130-150 was very good, but he says a score of 150-170 is “Bullshit”!

He talked about ‘shifting the bull’ in the workplace. So many of us make excuses for things, eg, you didn’t do a particular task, your common response to your boss is “I didn’t get around to it, haven’t had time”, he says the real reason is that you prioritised other tasks and left this one out. Andrew was very interesting and entertaining, and I found myself relating to so much of what he had to say.

Mr Chris Dawson from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission spoke about cybercrime, stating that 5 million Australians are affected by some form of cybercrime as we speak. He went on to speak about organised crime syndicates impacting Australia and stated that: • 68 per cent of drug labs are located in metropolitan areas. 70 per cent of Australia’s most serious criminal networks are based offshore and have offshore links.

• Australia has the highest rates of methamphetamine (ice) use in the world.

• The bulk of ice is imported into Australia from China.

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Serious and organised crime cost Australia $36 billion in 2013-2014 or 24 per cent of the entire social security budget.

• The likelihood of an ice user committing a property crime is four times what is considered normal.

Again he stressed the importance of early intervention and prevention being much more effective than a reactive approach.

Dr Karl O’Callaghan has been the Chief Commissioner of WA Police since 2004.

He is currently leading WA Police through a restructure of its operations called Frontline 2020, designed to future-proof the agency against the pressures of social and economic change. Dr O’Callaghan a very frank and open speaker, talked about his own personal experiences with a son that is currently in prison because of an ice addiction. He spoke about the direction of WA Police in balancing how to deal with volume crime and still maintaining a community policing approach. He talked about the fact that there are very few ,if any, programs available for young recidivist offenders and no options for rehabilitation, however PCYC is one organisation that will work with these young people. They have problems engaging with young people when the parents won’t encourage them to engage. He indicated that police need to take the lead until the other services catch up. Their challenge is where to best place our resources to focus on the priorities, I think that we can all agree that this would be a challenge to us all.

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He talked about the necessity of longterm government support, however we need to be able to evaluate and report back on our outcomes to government for this to happen. Dr O’Callaghan went on to talk about some of the specific issues in WA, many of them similar to us here in Victoria.

Karl spoke of the transition and civilianisation of PCYC while remaining linked to police. He highlighted the importance of establishing KPIs and a means of measuring and quantifying results. “We must be able to clearly demonstrate what impact our programs have.” Governments increasingly want to know the answer to “what difference you are making.”

Each state then presented on what some of the programs are for them within the PCYC area. Our friends from New Zealand stood out as they always do with their programs, the number of civilian paid staff they have over there and the amount of successful programs that they run for their young people.

This conference was very PCYC heavy, however the programs and activities that we are running here in Victoria are all things that the other states are running within their PCYCs, the small differences are that we are more mobile, we don’t rely on a building to run out programs from and of course the name. We are all here for the same reasons and for the same outcomes.

This was a very worthwhile conference and I believe that all delegates got quite a bit out of attending.

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KEEPING THEM AT SCHOOL

WA Police and Community Youth Centres offer Blue Light youth activities as an extension of youth services to regional and metro locations across Western Australia.

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he Jigalong Blue Light Youth Activity program “Keeping them at School” was established to address anti-social issues among young people in Jigalong such as solvent misuse, crime and truancy.

It sought to implement effective strategies to reduce the incidence of these issues and empower young people to make changes in their lives. It also aimed to improve the relationships between police, teachers, youth and community members while reducing the need for young people to have contact with the criminal justice system.

Students of the Jigalong Remote Community School were rewarded with sporting activities when they attended school and behaved appropriately within the community. Last November the Jigalong police released this photo (right) on their Twitter feed along with the announcement “Jigalong pool open for the summer.

No school, no pool rule back in place. #morekidsatschool” While some conflict still exists between the school and community,

there have been positive reductions in crime rates and solvent misuse in the greater Western Desert area.

A focussed response by teachers and police to educate young people in Jigalong about the dangers of solvents has meant that solvent abuse has been virtually eradicated in Jigalong.

There has also been a dramatic improvement to the level of trust and respect between police, teachers and the youth.

Despite facing some challenges – such as only one vehicle to transport youth – the Jigalong Police and Jigalong Remote Community School have persevered and in 2015 they were both nominated for the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth Awards in recognition of the program’s success.

Blue Light 1987 Maryborough PL April 1987 p67

Images sourced from: https://twitter.com/jigalongpol 26 Jun 2015 “The Jigalong boys ready for Newman Friday night footy #keepingthematschool #aflstars #fb #policeschoolworkingtogether”

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FARM SAFETY THE BLUE LIGHT WAY Agriculture plays a huge role in the lives of many New Zealanders, which means that a significant number of our children either live and work on a farm or have had the opportunity to visit one at some point.

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f course, growing up on the farm is a wonderful thing and provides our kids with many valuable life skills. However, a rural lifestyle comes with its own set of specific risks and hazards, so it is imperative that our children learn early on to be aware of the dangers they can encounter on a farm.

With this in mind, New Zealand Blue Light, with the support of WorkSafe New Zealand, developed the Farm Safety Activity Book to improve kids’ knowledge of rural safety in and around the farm.

The book tests their knowledge with quizzes on a range of subjects,

Lynley Tate from the Blue Light Programmes Team introducing a Couple of young kiwis to the Farm Safety Activity Book at the Hamilton Field Days.

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such as chemicals and poisons, firearms, vehicles and behaviour around livestock.

It’s a fun and engaging way to reinforce how kids can still enjoy a traditional life on the farm, and stay safe and well at the same time.

“The idea is 11-year-old Promise Hadfield’s drawing showing dangers on the for kids to take farm that she learnt about in Blue Light’s Farm Safety Activity Book. the activity book home with them and complete it alongside mum and dad. This initiative is not just about teaching kids to be safe on the farm, but also about changing the attitudes of parents,” says Blue Light Operations Manager Mike Jackson.

The activity book even has its own ambassador, Harry Hedgehog, who has visited several primary schools and Field Days over the past few months to spread Blue Light’s farm safe message.

Both Harry and the activity book have been positively received by participating children, schools and parents.

“The book states safety rules in easyto-read kids’ language; the activities, pictures and drawings are very well done and the children enjoyed discussing and offering opinions on what they were reading and they were able to verbalise their new learnings very well,” said Principal Karen Kellaway of Canvastown School.

Harry visiting with a class of children at Blue Light has been given the green St Joseph’s Primary School in Waihi. light to roll out the programme across New Zealand in the coming months.

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BLUE LIGHT KNOWS WHAT AWAITS AT ‘RAINBOW’S END’

New Zealand Blue Light has found plenty of riches at ‘Rainbow’s End’ over the past two decades. And no, before you get too excited, it is not a pot of shiny gold coins, but rather the smiles and laughter of hundreds of young Kiwis as they descend on Rainbow’s End Amusement Park for Blue Light’s annual ‘Rainbow’s End Fun Day’.

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his year saw over 3,000 intermediate-aged children, along with some very brave police officers, volunteers and Blue Light staff, doing loop-the-loops on the Corkscrew Coaster, defying gravity on the Stratosphere and hurtling 18 stories from the top of the Fearfall.

Of course, the kids did take a brief break to indulge in a good old fashioned Blue Light sausage sizzle, but they were quickly back into the action, trying to drench an officer or two on the bumper boats or lap the Blue Light crew on the go-kart track.

Blue Light branches from across the width and breadth of New Zealand attended the event with busloads of children in tow and have received nothing but praise from attendees and their parents.

“Thanks so much for the amazing experience of Rainbow's End!!!”, said Ariana Nell in a letter to Blue Light.

“I had a great time and I tried new rides such as the Stratosphere (nonextreme of course) and the Invader, although I did feel like I was going to fall off. Once again thanks to Blue Light and the Police Force, I appreciate the opportunity to go to Rainbow’s End, it was the best day ever!!”

“The girls had a fantastic time at Rainbow's End and were very thankful for the experience,” said Sarah Ama (mother).

It is thanks to the generous support of sponsors that Blue Light could offer this experience to 50,000+ deserving young people over the last 24 years, who would otherwise likely never have the means or opportunity to visit the theme park.

Watch out Sergeant Dan Wright, you look a little cornered there.

Turangi police chief Sergeant Te Reipa Morunga braves the Stratosphere with a group of Turangi youth.

Senior Constable Brett Otto from Paeroa Blue Light calls shotgun on the Corkscrew Rollercoaster.

“ It is thanks to the generous support of sponsors that Blue Light could offer this experience to 50,000+ deserving young people over the last 24 years, who would otherwise likely never have the means or opportunity to visit the theme park.”

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NZ

WHAKATĀNE BLUE LIGHT

Finding affordable activities to keep the kids entertained and out of mischief during the school holidays can be the stuff of nightmares for any parent…well, unless they live in the Whakatāne district, then the team at Blue Light Whakatāne have more than got them covered.

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ake for example, the latest school holidays, which saw New Zealand Blue Light’s Whakatāne branch hosting three whānau friendly events for their community.

They kicked off the holidays with Bubble Soccer, which involves participants engaging in a game of soccer while dressed in bubble suits. Over 155 very enthusiastic children along with 69 equally keen adults attended the FREE event and tried their best to chase down and boot the ball in the net. There was plenty of friendly jostling and more than a few players ended up upside down with their feet in the air.

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Next up was the Riverside Rampage, an Amazing Race-style event that attracted 127 participants despite the rain. Each team was required to complete 10 activities and answer 10 questions for a chance to be crowned the River Rampage champions.

Activities included identifying problems in an image, eating food, walking on planks, building Lego and identifying animals and pests.

And because you should always end things with a splash whenever possible… they wrapped things up with a Pool Party at the Whakatāne District Aquatic Centre

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with well over 200 kids donning their togs and diving right in. Attendees took part in the biggest-bomb competition and raced across the inflatable obstacle course with the hopes of scoring one of the spot prizes.

The number of participants at each of the three events reinforces the idea that there is a high demand for such activities during the school holidays.

“For us, it’s really nice doing big events that the whole community can take part in over the holidays,” said Whakatāne Blue Light Coordinator Richard Hamer.

K C A B ASH

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John Farnham visits Moorabbin Blue Light, December 1986

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QLD

A DAY AT THE ZOO

On Friday 7 October we treated a group of 11 young victims of child abuse to a fun day out at Australia Zoo. Organised by Detective Sergeant Mark Pryer of Morningside CPIU, the day was a great success thanks to the assistance of a variety of organisations.

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he children and supervisors travelled by mini-bus courtesy of the Police Academy, and was driven by Queensland Blue Light State Coordinator Sergeant Paul Lincoln. Everyone arrived safely, even though we told the kids that Paul only got his licence the day before and was blind as well as deaf. The day got off to a great start at McDonald’s Bracken Ridge, where we were all treated to a huge free breakfast. We were sent on our way with plenty of water and cookies, as well as goodie bags for all the kids. This was all donated by owner Rod Chiapello, who is a terrific supporter of Blue Light and the Queensland Police Service.

Our five star treatment continued on arrival at Australia Zoo, where we were given free entry and a guide to get us started. The highlight of the day was the Animal Extravaganza, where we had the opportunity to have some one-onone interaction with a koala, echidna, macaw, python, blue tongue lizard and wombat. This was a huge hit with the kids (and grown ups!) closely followed by the Crocoseum Show where we had VIP seating. Kangaroo feeding and a trip to Africa rounded out the day.

Blue Light chips in by buying everyone lunch, and paying for the special Animal Extravaganza. We also provide a goodie bag for each of the kids.

Special days like these are very important for these young people.

Children in circumstances that lead them to come under the care of the

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CPIU can end up becoming distrustful of adults. They can also come to see the police in a negative way, associating them with a traumatic time in their lives, giving evidence, attending court, etc. We believe that showing them that police officers and other adults care about their welfare is an important part of the healing process. It is extremely rewarding to see a group of kids who have had some extremely difficult

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things to cope with in their young lives simply spend a day having fun and just being kids.

A big thank you to our supervisors on the day: from Morningside CPIU – Detective Sergeant Mark Pryer and PCSC Shannon Midgley; from Boondall CPIU – Detective Sergeant Joanne Patterson and DSC Renee Pavicic; from Queensland Blue Light – Sergeant Paul Lincoln and Mrs Jenny Monk.

QLD

CUNNAMULLA NAIDOC CELEBRATION

Queensland Blue Light Association Incorporated (QBLAI) and Cunnamulla Police hosted a special day in celebration of NAIDOC week 2016.

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unnamulla Police Liaison Officer Raeleen Rach got the ball rolling when she contacted QBLAI State Office for some possible funding assistance. Raeleen had some great ideas for a celebration that she knew would be a success with a little funding. This led to Blue Light submitting a grant application, which was successful to the tune of $3000.

Not exactly a huge grant, butit’s amazing what you can do with plenty of volunteers and a little imagination!

QBLAI State Administrator Jenny Monk travelled to Cunnamulla to help out on the day, with assistance from Blue Light volunteer Scott Monk (her son).

They took some giveaway items and made balloon animals with the kids.

Raeleen engaged the services of Susie Klein, who conducted Indigenous art and craft workshops with the kids all day.

Activities included chalk art, mural making, face painting, paint pouring and finger puppetry. A colouring in competition was also run throughout the day.

A barbecue lunch and drinks were supplied free of charge for the 80 or so people that attended.

All in all the day was a great success. It was terrific to see so

“ Activities included chalk art, mural making, face painting, paint pouring and finger puppetry. A colouring in competition was also run throughout the day.”

Another big hit was damper making.

Local police and Police Liaison Officers rolled up their sleeves and helped the kids to make their own individual dampers.

As a show of respect, local Elders had their own special area set up, and were served tea, coffee and damper by the children.

many Elders attend, and also to see the respect shown to them by the kids. Jenny was impressed with the children’s behaviour, and the good manners shown. It’s a long way to Cunnamulla from State Office (nine-and-a-half hours) but well worth the trip to be involved in this cultural celebration.

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QLD

BLUE LIGHT AT THE MARY VALLEY SHOW

Our hard working crew from Mary Valley Blue Light spent the day at the Mary Valley Show on 20 August 2016, promoting Blue Light and their branch to the 3000 people that attended.

QBLAI State Administrator Jenny Monk and Mary Valley Blue Light Coordinator Sergeant Brock Murphy.

Cuteness overload! Happy show attendee with her Blue Light balloon.

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olunteers Colin and Cath Robinson took time out from their busy schedules to set up our marquee, hand out balloons and mini showbags and generally fly the flag for the Association.

They were ably assisted by Sergeant Brock Murphy, Gary and Julie Walker, and Terry Kennedy.

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Left to right: Colin Robinson, Cath Robinson and Julie Walker holding the fort!

Juicy Wigglers going through their paces.

QBLAI State Administrator Jenny Monk attended for several hours to see the display and show support, but most importantly to see the Mary Valley Blue Light kids perform at the main stage that afternoon.

After many weeks of work they choreographed their own dance number to Redfoo’s “Juicy Wiggle”, and the result

National Blue Light Magazine Summer 2016/2017

was a high energy routine that made you feel tired just watching it!

The kids did an awesome job, and it was well worth the trip to see it live.

Of course that many young people don’t get organised without help, so a big thanks to all the parents and Blue Light volunteers who worked to make it all to come together.

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