Photo from OPP West Region Facebook
The Norfolk County OPP is giving young people a front-row seat to policing through a summer program designed to build leadership, confidence and career skills.
The Youth in Policing Initiative, better known as YIPI, gives high school students the chance to spend eight weeks working alongside OPP officers and civilian members.
Norfolk County OPP Community Engagement Officer Andrew Gamble said the experience shows students that policing involves much more than what they might see on television or social media.
Gamble said the program also introduces students to different careers within the OPP. Past YIPI participants have gone on to post-secondary law enforcement programs, civilian positions and volunteer opportunities with the OPP Auxiliary.
For Hope Bowman, this summer wasn’t her first experience with Norfolk OPP.
Those opportunities included riding with officers, visiting the Ontario Police College and OPP headquarters, touring a women’s correctional facility and learning about border security and canine units.
Bowman said one of her biggest surprises was discovering just how varied an officer’s day can be.
The experience also gave Bowman a better idea of what she wants to do next. She had already been considering policing and psychology before joining the OPP, and the summer reinforced her interest in law enforcement.
Gamble said that is one of the goals of YIPI: giving students firsthand experience they can carry with them long after the eight-week program ends.
Whether participants eventually become police officers, pursue another role within the OPP or take a completely different path, the program gives them a better understanding of policing and the many people behind it.
Written by Jeremy Hall
