Dealing with the underlying reasons for aboriginal youth crime was the focus of a three day national police chief’s conference in Regina.
Organizers and speakers say it goes beyond poverty and addiction and is often a result of a lost identity.
One of the speakers was a native spiritual leader from Calgary.
Walter MacDonald Whitebear says native elders helped him find himself.
“Either people be a victim and stay there or you make positive choices.
Another speaker at the conference was Russ Merasty, the head of the RCMP in Saskatchewan. He says police forces along with community and government partners have accomplished a lot in Saskatchewan.
“But here in Saskatchewan I think we’ve really advanced fairly quickly in the last couple of years in terms of engaging communities, engaging government and other agencies to really come together.”
About 150 delegates took part in the three day conference.