Following a successful Youth Summit last year, Puketāpapa Youth Board has made it a priority to help strengthen the relationship between rangatahi (youth) and police officers in the local area.
To further their goals, members of Puketāpapa Youth Board, in partnership with Roskill Youth Zone organisation Above the Rim, played a few games of basketball with police officers.
Their games were followed by an informal Q&A session, helping to bust myths around what policing means for young people in the local area.
“The police and the youth are pillars of the community. Great relations between them are key for a prosperous Puketāpapa," says Ojas Shukla, Deputy Chair of Puketāpapa Youth Board.
"We think that sports and fun are great for building and improving the relationship."
Puketāpapa Youth Board members are looking forward to continuing to build on their relationship with the police.
Over the coming months, they will be engaged in a broad range of activities to support the young people of Puketāpapa and bring issues relevant to young people to the forefront.
Upcoming plans include organising the next Youth Summit and hosting campaigns to engage with young people in creative ways, the results of which will be shared with Puketāpapa Local Board, Auckland Transport and Auckland Council.
“I’m pleased to see our young people finding out in this environment what the police do and how they operate," says Harry Doig, Chair of Puketāpapa Local Board.
“So often views of the police are formed by the media or what we see on TV. These can lead to inaccurate stereotypes.”
Find out more about Puketāpapa Youth Board and the work they do on Facebook and Instagram.
