Criminal justice program taught in Inuvik
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Inuvik (May 25/01) - The future is bright for those involved in crime ... fighting crime, that is.
With three new offenders facilities nearing completion, the job vacancies in the field are opening up into a vast spectrum of opportunities in the North.
In order to train corrections officers, community justice co-ordinators, bylaw officers and others, Aurora College's Inuvik campus is expanding its criminal justice program.
"All those things flow into justice," explained program co-ordinator Alana Mero. "I would not call (the need for workers) a crisis situation yet, but it is one heck of an employment opportunity."
The Inuvik campus is the only place that offers the program, which started with a certificate program when a need for workers was identified in 1999. That was when it was confirmed that a facility for female young offenders would be built here.
To meet staffing needs for that facility, as well as a male young offenders unit and a new adult jail in Yellowknife, the college turned the certificate program into a diploma course and is currently accepting applications.
"For corrections officers there will be an increase (in demand) like we have never seen," Mero said.
The female young offenders facility in Inuvik will start training women in January. They need 22 to fill all the positions when the complex opens next April.
"We have demand and corrections is a large employer," said Robert Cook, co-ordinator for young offenders at the department of justice.
Patricia Allen saw an opportunity to delve into something for which she felt she was well-suited when she entered the program. "More or less, it is because I want to find out why people do what they do."
She applied once and was not accepted, so she buckled down and raised her marks with the help of caring teachers.
"About a month later I applied -- after my grades came up -- because I wanted to get in their so bad," she explained.
Allen is now completing a practicum with the Inuvik Justice Committee, which organized on-the-land activities. "I am curious as to what triggers a person to go off like that and I want to try and help," she added. "I am more than happy."
The criminal justice program is a product of meshing a academic-based program offered at Yukon College with technical training done through territorial Department of Justice security training in Yellowknife.
Seven students are in the process of completing work terms. Six of them are aboriginal and five of them are women.
