INUVIK - The week following an attempted abduction, Inuvik RCMP organized an interactive show and presented it to elementary students at Sir Alexander Mackenzie School March 2.

Staff Sgt. Wayne Norris speaks to high school students at Samuel Hearne Secondary School on Feb. 22, as part of the Not Us anti-drug campaign. - Kira Curtis/NNSL photo

Constables Derek Young, Amanda Lowe and Todd Glenser acted out scenarios in a "Stranger Danger" presentation to educate young kids on how to be aware of strangers and tell between friends and acquaintances.

"We did little bit of acting. I put on a ski mask and sunglasses and was walking very suspiciously, but then we also explained that a stranger can look like anybody, they don't have to be wearing a ski mask," Glenser said.

The kids seemed to pay attention, shouting the answers out to questions the officers would ask.

Getting out to the schools is something Young thinks is important for building trust with the youth and the community.

He said one of the main reasons he became an RCMP officer is to interact with youth and teach them.

"It's obviously a priority for me," Staff Sgt. Wayne Norris said about building a rapport with schools in his new role as detachment commander.

Norris is planning on growing the youth programs the RCMP are involved with, such as the anti-drug campaigns Not Us and DARE as well as Aboriginal Shield - a youth leadership building program.

"What it does is it's working with youth in your community and it's identifying the strong leadership within our youth and it's promoting leadership development," Norris explained.

He is hoping to have this program up and running by summer time.

Norris said he believes strongly in taking an active role in the community and building a relationship with the youth so they don't end up turning to illegal activities.

"It's a lot of pressure on a young person who comes from a family that has a fixed income and their friend is running around with an iPad or an iPod, you name it," Norris said. "Sometimes it's easy for them to go down the wrong path, that's just the reality of the day."

He said having a relationship with the students can help stop them from getting involved in things like selling drugs to have nicer toys and electronics.

"Society today is so substance based, there's so much out there that everybody wants this, they want that," Norris said. "Everywhere you go it's advertising that you've got to have this, you've got to be this, you've got to look like that, so I look at that as being a lot of pressure."

Though schools are generally not the most serious priority RCMP have, Norris said on a long-term scale, the relationship the RCMP build with today's youth may help Inuvik's crime rate a few years down the line.

There are also plans to expand the RCMP facility from its around a 900 square metre building to a 1,400 to 1,800 square metre building, a new staff member and an aboriginal youth trainee are coming for the summer.

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