Two West Auckland constables have taken the message about the dangers of synthetic drugs straight to some of the youngsters most at risk – with the help of a pie and some nasty chemicals.
Constable Dermot Forde, of Henderson
Neighbourhood Policing Team, and Youth Aid Constable Reuben Jakich have teamed
up to talk to teenagers at Alternative Education centres.
In their presentation they give an audience
member a pie – then retrieve it, spray it with acetone and other nasties and
offer it back.
“We say ‘Who’s hungry now?” says Dermot.
“They’ll say ‘Are you trying to poison us?’ We tell them ‘Well, boys and girls,
that’s what you’ve been smoking’.”
Coroners are investigating the role of
synthetics tainted with dangerous chemicals in around 20 deaths in New Zealand,
with West Auckland disproportionately affected.
“We’re coming across 12 and 13-year-olds
smoking synthetics and I thought I’d go straight to where these kids come
from,” says Dermot.
He and Reuben have presented at five West
Auckland AE centres and one on the North Shore - tough audiences of youngsters
excluded from mainstream education, with many facing criminal charges.
They keep the presentation short. “It’s quick
and sharp – 15 to 20 minutes, not death by powerpoint,” says Reuben.
The pie is something teenagers can relate to.
“In the first presentation I went to I talked about pies,” says Reuben.
“In a shop you see pies labelled ‘steak’ or
‘chicken’ – if one was labelled ‘unknown ingredients and might kill you’, would
you eat that? After that we decided to use an actual pie.”
They wear casual clothes but raise the idea
that some audience members might be police of the future. “The whole class –
and teachers – laugh,” says Dermot.
“We say to them that we all make mistakes but
some of you might make some of the best police officers. The whole point is
that people can change.”
Senior Sergeant Richard Thompson, Waitakere
Area Manager Community and Youth, says Dermot and Reuben have broken the ice
with youngsters in advance of a planned long-term campaign on synthetics.
“What they have achieved is considerable,” he
says. “The feedback has been genuinely positive and this group of kids are a
tough crowd.
“They’ve created an opportunity to reach
people who could be some of the most at-risk in a quick and efficient way, and
to build on the conversations they’ve had.
“Giving staff the freedom to develop their own
ways to achieve Police’s big-picture aims is an important part of what the
Police High Performance Framework is about. I’m a big fan.”
