Kwantlen Polytechnic University KORA: Kwantlen Open Resource Access Acting Together (AT-CURA) - SSHRC-CURA Project KPU Institutes and Research Units 10-14-2014 Sikh Leadership Honored for Youth GangPrevention Action Plans Gira Bhatt Kwantlen Polytechnic Universtiy Acting Together (AT-CURA) Follow this and additional works at: http://kora.kpu.ca/at-cura Part of the Criminology Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, and the Social Psychology and Interaction Commons Original Publication Citation "Sikh Leadership Honored for Youth Gang-Prevention Action Plans" Indo-Canadian Voice [online] October 14, 2014. This News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the KPU Institutes and Research Units at KORA: Kwantlen Open Resource Access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Acting Together (AT-CURA) - SSHRC-CURA Project by an authorized administrator of KORA: Kwantlen Open Resource Access. For more information, please contact kora@kpu.ca. Sikh Leadership Honored for Youth Gang-Prevention Action Plans Gira Bhatt Director: AT-CURA Project Kwantlen Polytechnic University When the youth get on a wrong track of life, it becomes a concern for the entire community. As such, taking corrective steps to prevent youth from wandering into the dark alleys of the criminal gang world calls for collective efforts by all concerned. In this regard, the South Asian community has demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness and willingness to walk side by side with a common goal of youth gang and violence prevention. A community event; “Youth Violence and Family Relationships” hosted by the South Asian Community Coalition Against Youth Violence (SACCAYV) on October 9, 2014 in Surrey was to some extent, a celebration of this community collaboration, especially the partnership between the Sikh leadership, the police, the academic researchers, and the service agencies. The larger goal was to affirm the commitment to continue collaborative efforts to prevent youth violence and gang involvement. The event was sponsored in part by the Acting-Together-Community University Research Alliance (AT-CURA) of Kwantlen Polytechnic University and MOSAIC-BC. The venue and lunch were sponsored by the Riverside Signature Banquet Hall in surrey. The significance of this event cannot be underestimated. Following the loss of over hundred youth in a decade to gang violence, in 2004, the community came together as the Sikh Societies of the Lower Mainland under the leadership of Balwant Sanghera, a retired school psychologist and a tireless social activist. By 2014, evolved as the South Asian Community Against Youth Violence (SACCAYV), this group has become the model of collaboration with a fine record of the ability, willingness, and action to work collaboratively with various agencies including the academics, police, educators, law makers, and importantly, with the community at large. It was no surprise that when the police needed community help to develop collaborated gangprevention action plan, it determined to work with the South Asian community for its pilot project. Recognizing the strengths of the local Gurudwaras as the hub of the community, a historic 2-day residential summit was held at the RCMP training center in Chilliwack in June 2013. Sikh Leadership along with youth members met with the police officers including the RCMP Assistant Commissioner Norm Lipinski, Chief Superintendent and the Lower Mainland District Commander Dan Malo, Staff Sergeant Baltej Dhillon, and Sergeant Lindsey Houghton who leads the End Gang Life campaign for the BC’s integrated anti-gang police agency (CFSEU-BC) ,several police chiefs, and AT-CURA members. A commitment was made by the police and the Sikh leadership to create and follow a concrete collaborative gang-prevention action plan. This action plan is no ordinary. It is a long-term plan including various steps along the way. It is collaborative, it is evidence-based, it is local and relevant to our community and our youth. The first step was to compile a systematic inventory of current youth programs implemented by the police and the Gurudwaras. The AT-CURA team coordinated a systematic compilation of these programs. A police officer and a student assistant from KPU visited each of the 16 Gurudwaras in the lower mainland which welcomed them with warm hospitality and provided details of their youth programs. These inventories are systematically categorized to develop comprehensive gang-prevention strategies. Another important step was to integrate information from the police - on how gangs recruit youth, and from the academic researchers and psychologists -on what parents can do to prevent youth from being lured into criminal gangs. The result was the parent resource booklet; “Understanding Youth and Gangs” which is a joint publication by the SACCAYV, CFSEU-BC, and the AT-CURA. Close to 100,000 copies in English are being printed for province wide distribution. This English version of this booklet is now being published in several languages, the first being Punjabi. The Sikh Gurudwaras and several individual community members have provided part sponsorship to AT-CURA project to publish the booklet in Punjabi. A high point of the October 09 event was the preview of the Punjabi version of the booklet and presentation of the Certificate of Appreciation to the Gurudwara presidents for their sponsorship of it. Balwant Sanghera, the chair of the SACCAYV presented these certificates with an acknowledgement from the AT-CURA project team. The CFSEU-BC will make the printed copies available for general distribution in November 2014. The event keynote speaker Chief Superintendent and the Lower Mainland District Commander Dan Malo spoke highly of the work undertaken by SACCAYV and the Sikh leadership while asking that we continue with our collective efforts supporting the police and the community to prevent youth violence and gang recruitment. The event attended by 65 invited guests concluded with a forum facilitated by Ninu Kang (MOSAIC-BC) with a discussion on youth violence, family relationships, and recommendations to help strengthen families. The Sikh leadership along with SACCAYV, AT-CURA, and MOSAIC-BC continues its collaboration with the police, the academic researchers and service agencies.