Positive Tickets will be returning to the Cowichan Valley this spring!
Cowichan Community Policing would like to give a great big shout out of to all our generous sponsors from past years who made this program possible.
Supporting Positive programs like this makes a difference in the lives of children & youth in our community.
Exact Program Dates Coming Soon…
What is Positive Tickets?
Positive Tickets is a program that rewards youth safety by recognizing safe practices by issuing ‘positive tickets’ to youth out in the community who exhibit positive behaviours or practices.
Facilitators (CCPES staff/directors/volunteers, local RCMP members, Block Watch Captains, & other appropriate community representatives) ‘catch’ Children or Youth displaying positive behaviours or actions around the community and reward them with a ‘ticket’ which they can redeem at our Duncan Office location (#5 2628 Beverly St.) for a coupon or gift card for a fun free activity or prize.
The tickets Children/Youth receive can be redeemed for merchandise or vouchers in the value of between $5.00 and $15.00. Every ticket given out will be entered in a grand Prize draw to be drawn at an annual event (date to be announced). We are hoping to have at least 20 grand prizes this year!
Youth may receive a ticket for a number of positive behaviours including:
- Practicing personal safety – such as wearing a bike helmet or other protective/high visibility items
- Doing various good deeds
- Participating in community activities
- Volunteering
- Demonstrating community pride – such as picking up trash or removing graffiti
- Deterring crime
- Adhering to school crossing rules
- Being a role model for others
Positive tickets are awarded to youth by RCMP members, Block Watch Captains/Co Captains, and Community Policing members to initiate relationships between youth, their community, and local businesses, as well as offer opportunity for officers to interact with youth in an informal/less authoritative manner to create positive relationships and deter future crime in youth populations.
The principals of this innovative approach have been shown to significantly:
- reduce juvenile troublemaking and related crime costs
- boost self-esteem and morale
- improve community relations with children/youth.
Why is Positive Tickets an Important Program for the Community?
From a safety education standpoint, Positive Tickets allows youth to be recognized for their positive/safe behaviour, therefore reinforcing safe practices within the individual youth and their cohort via positive reinforcement and word of mouth.
If one youth is ‘ticketed’, for example, when wearing a bike helmet while riding/playing at the skate park, that youth in more likely to wear a helmet next time they ride, tell their friends and peers about bike safety/wearing a helmet and the benefit, and provides the opportunity for onlooking youth who are not being safe a chance to see the positive in practicing safe riding, ultimately altering/improving behaviour.
Having adults in a youth’s life (business owners, community service members, RCMP members & affiliates) that they know are safe people to talk/reach out to improves safety by increasing the likelihood of youth reaching out for help rather than living in fear/taking matters into their own hands (decreasing youth on youth crime) and improves youth-community buy in and positive participation (decrease in petty theft and property crime/vandalism).
Who Benefits from the Program?
Youth
Youth living in or frequently visiting Duncan/North Cowichan, South Cowichan, Chemainus and Cowichan Bay communities will directly benefit in the form of legitimate reinforcement of positive behaviour (positive tickets) and learning which behaviours are safe/appropriate.
An increase in safety practices within youth populations has the ability to:
- Shift/improve public perception of youth
- Increase the number of youth who model positive behaviours to others (especially those younger than them)
- Increase overall cohort safety
- Create positive relationships and safe spaces with local business owners & staff, RCMP members, & Community Policing members
Youth will benefit from having positive relationships with local officers and CCPES staff by having an additional safe adult(s) to report/speak to if something negative happens in their life, as well as creating safe spaces (in participating businesses and CCPES offices) where youth can feel safe entering if they need help or to disengage from a negative situation.
Community Members (outside youth age range)
Community members that do not fall under the youth age range will benefit indirectly through:
- Living in communities where safety practices are modeled and favoured from a young age
- Regaining community trust/faith in the Criminal Justice/law enforcement system (leading to better/increased reporting and decreased crime)
- Creating general awareness of positive behaviours in the population
- Creating positive relationships between youth/community members and businesses and owners (decreasing overall property crime and theft)
Businesses
Businesses (Owners, Managers, Staff) will benefit both directly and indirectly from this program through:
- Advertisement on the CCPES website, Facebook page, Instagram, advertising posters, and directly on the positive tickets to demonstrate your support (increased visibility & revenue potential)
- Feel good about contributing to overall safety and positive behaviours in Cowichan Valley youth
- Create positive relationships with the next generation and future members of the workforce (decreasing probability of youth property crime, theft, & vandalism against your business)