A hope to have an impact on the lives of young people drew James McDonald to the youth aid officer role in the police.

Originally from Dunedin, James has been a police officer since 2017, starting his career in Timaru. 

Previously he has been involved in the frontline, road policing, prevention – overseeing family harm, youth aid services and communities as a supervisor. 

James McDonald. PHOTO: Supplied 

Before joining the force James completed an apprenticeship and diploma in horticulture, working on the grounds of the University of Otago, transitioning into turf management and sport field maintenance within Dunedin.

The variety in his new youth aid role is one of the things he enjoys.

“The role has been interesting... for example working with families and young people to address their offending, make young people accountable [and] support them to address the causes of their offending. 

“I have a close relationship with our external agencies to address these issues as it takes a whole community to steer children and young people in the right direction. I also chair Bluelight Central Lakes and get to work with our local youth trusts in programmes such as BLAST which is very rewarding.”

Social pressure put on youth today is their biggest challenge, Jame said.

“A lot of this is influenced by social media and parents have little control of what their children are absorbing when exposed to these platforms. 

“This is a social issue but can lead into misleading information, online bullying, anti-social trends and eventually offending. I believe… the social media companies could be doing a lot more to prevent this kind of harm occurring.”

James said ultimately he wanted to reduce youth offending in Central, creating prevention based initiatives to engage with youth and prevent anti-social behaviour from occurring or escalating which results in harm to the community.

“This is something I cannot do alone and rely on the support of the community to achieve.”  

James has called Central home since 2019, and being a keen mountain biker, skier and boatie his hobbies are close by.

“[Origially my] intention [was to stay] a short time before moving back to my home town Dunedin. Shortly after arriving, I realised what a great and safe community we live in and have been reluctant to give that up.”

James’s message to youth as we head into winter; “Enjoy the school holidays, make sure you find a healthy balance between screentime and getting outside and doing physical activities with your family and friends. 

“Look out for your mates, support each other, set yourself some goals and try something new.”

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