Police and African Youth Project
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Overview
A project to enhance relationships between the police and young people of African backgrounds has proven to be a very effective way of building trust between the two groups.
This project, involving sporting, social and workshop events, has evolved into regular monthly meetings between young people and police in the Rosehill Local Area Command (LAC).
What are the aims of the project?
The aim was to develop and enhance relationships between police and young people of African backgrounds, who may have been involved in at-risk or anti-social behaviour.
The project also aims to engage young people in crime prevention strategies, as well as early intervention work to address potential anti-social behaviour of some people within these communities.
What was involved?
Over 12 months the project brings young African people together to develop relationships between police in order to break down miscommunication, mistrust and stereotypes between both groups.
The project involves a monthly social and sporting event between police, youth workers and young Africans, which includes crime prevention workshops covering topics such as young people's rights, driving without a licence, personal safety, reporting crime, bullying, youth violence and sexual harassment.
The project also includes a larger event with families every four months. This allows for the building of bridges and strong relationships.
A working committee for this project was formed in February 2009. Granville Multicultural Community Centre in partnership with Rosehill LAC received funding from the Australian Human Rights Commission (formerly the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission) and the Australian Multicultural Foundation under the Community Policing Partnership Project.
Who participated?
Youth Services of Granville Multicultural Community Centre, Granville Youth Recreational Centre, MRC Parramatta and Holroyd Youth Service advertised the events with existing African clients who access their services. This includes people from Sudanese, Sierra Leone, Somali, Liberian and other African communities.
More than 40 young people are participating in the project.
What were the outcomes?
Workshops conducted by the police, other agencies, legal aid and the Ombudsman educate and empower all those who attend.
The support of youth workers provides a whole-of-community approach to help the new communities integrate into mainstream society. Inviting parents to participate provides police and youth services with the opportunity to consult with their parents and guardians about the most important issues.
This leads to improved relationships and increase trust between African young people and their families, with police.
Where can I get more information?
Further information on this project is available.
Erick Elephante
Community Youth Worker
Granville Multicultural Community Centre
Email: youth@gmcc.org.au
Telephone: 02 9637 7600
Constable Blago Mlisevic
Rosehill Local Area Command
Email: mili1bla@police.nsw.gov.au
Telephone: 02 9760 6299
See also: Community Policing Partnership Project
Quotes
"The two way experience of exposing police and African groups to each other leads to an understanding of each others needs and issues and breaks down challenges on both sides."
Charles Bak Chol Wol, General Secretary, Aweil Community Association in Australia
"This project can be regarded as a model of good policing at a local level because it focuses on building relationships between police and African young people with very successful outcomes."
Constable Blago Milisevi, YLO Rosehill LAC