Minister of Justice National Youth Justice Policing Award

2012 Winner

Minister of Justice Announces Winner of the 2012 National Youth Justice Policing Award

The winners of the 2012 Minister of Justice National Youth Justice Policing Award are Sergeant Brent Kalinowski and Constable Matthew Gray of the Prince Albert Police Service's Community Mobilization Prince Albert (CMPA) program.

Constable Matthew Gray, The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Sergeant Brent Kalinowski

The Community Mobilization concept and approach was started in February 2011. It has attracted provincial and national attention with many communities interested in replicating the process. Through a collaborative effort, involving provincial partners and non-government organizations, Community Mobilization Prince Albert program focuses on early interventions to prevent the entrenchment of at-risk youth in the justice system.

Community Mobilization Prince Albert program is comprised of two equally important elements, one dealing with the individual and the other addressing issues in the community.

The HUB committee, which includes Sergeant Kalinowski and Constable Gray, is comprised of personnel from many provincial partners including police, probation, social services, corrections, health, mental health, education, addictions and others. The HUB meets twice a week to discuss relevant cases of "elevated risk" among individuals or families. The appropriate agencies that hold a piece of the solution are identified and a meeting with the individual is then scheduled to offer services and assistance to individuals. Many of the individuals brought forward to the HUB are youth. CMPA helps address the systemic issues such as housing, addictions, or mental health issues that lead some to recidivism and helps youth make better choices.

The second part of Community Mobilization Prince Albert program is the Center of Responsibility (COR). The COR deals with systemic causes on a larger scale. Truancy, addictions, mental health, and family violence are all causes of youth criminality and victimization. The COR is comprised of members of various agencies and focuses on community problems. The COR develops community action plans and strategies to combat current community issues. CMPA often partners with non-governmental organizations in the community in order to make referrals of youth in conflict with the law. The program also supports the reintegration of these youth with activities created by CMPA in partnership with local school boards.

Whether through referrals, committees, conferencing or reintegration of young offenders, the Community Mobilization Prince Albert program offers an innovative approach to giving the youth in the community an opportunity to make better choices and keep communities safe.

Previous Winners

The Minister of Justice National Youth Justice Policing Award was established in 2000. Here are the previous award recipients: