Youth Cadets Court Visit

The RCMP Youth Cadet Academy is an annual event that happens during spring break for School District #57 (Prince George). The RCMP Youth Cadets are a group of youth in grades 11 and 12 that have applied to learn more about the RCMP and what to expect at depot. These youth come from all over northern BC and are giving up their spring break to participate in this eight-day camp.

On the camp’s seventh day, the group visited the Prince George Law Courts, where JES’ Northern Regional Coordinator Joan Brett coordinated a day full of activities. Here is her recap:

This year the youth were from Terrace, Kitimat, Smithers, Quesnel, Prince George and other communities from around northern British Columbia. The troop consisted of 32 youth and a variety of adults who volunteer with the RCMP or are members of the organizations. On day two of the Academy, Judge R. Walker and I went to the training facility and observed a lecture and mock assault. Judge Walker and I were very impressed with the students’ reactions to the mock assault. This observation helped us later in the week when we would see them again.
 
On day seven, the 32 cadets and chaperones came to the Prince George Law Courts for the day. The troop arrived at 8:30 am and I had a full day of events planned for them. We started out with a court clerk presentation by Rhonda White and then saw a presentation by Mitch Walker from Adult Probation. The presentation was interesting as Mitch had taken the time to create a PowerPoint presentation for the students.

I then conducted a standard courtroom orientation and spoke of the levels of court. Judge D. Weatherly led a standard Provincial Court presentation; he focused on testimony and the importance of note-taking for an RCMP officer.

After a lunch break, the troop met with a couple of interesting people: Judge R. Walker and Simon Wagstaff, a local defence lawyer. Both individuals are well-respected in Prince George and the information they shared with the students was valuable. Simon spoke of the integrity of the RCMP and how important this is as a member of the community. Judge Walker gave a list of tips to the students on observation and testimony.

Next came a session with the Sheriffs. Deputy Sheriff James Baxter came to speak of his career as well as similarities and differences of Sheriffs and RCMP. The cadets had a light-hearted moment when one was handcuffed and put in leg irons.

The group then enjoyed participating in a mock trial about the Three Little Pigs. The jury found Sneezy the Wolf not guilty of blowing down two houses but he was found guilty of attempting to blow down the house of bricks as well as breaking and entering.

The day wrapped up with two guest speakers. Anne Baines from Crown counsel came to speak to the troop about the role of Crown and how it interacts with the RCMP. Our final guest speaker of the day was Shannon Elliott from the Youth Probation office. Shannon shared the role of youth probation and gave the students more insight on the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

That was the end of the day. Although the cadets were tired they seemed to have enjoyed themselves and appreciated the effort by all of the guest speakers!