July 2002 Volume 83 Number 7 "serving the protectors"
Blue Light’s 20 successful years
By Brett Williams

Sergeant Graham Brett has no doubt that, without Blue Light, some young people would have ended up in detention, or even died. He knows too many successful, Blue Light-influenced adults – who once roamed the streets as troubled youths – not to be convinced.

“One young girl who hung around Hindley St in the ’80s did a number of Blue Light camps as a participant,” says Sgt Brett, the organization’s state co-ordinator. “She then became a leader on the camps and is now working with young people for FAYS (Family and Youth Services).”

In other cases, a man who had been an Adelaide street kid now runs a successful nursing agency. He insists that Blue Light changed him. And, in 2000, the parent of a 13-year-old wrote to Blue Light officials about her son’s experience on a camp.

Her letter said she had expected him to return home “on Cloud Nine”. “I don’t know what you did,” she wrote, “but he’s on Cloud 29.”

Even with youths in detention, Blue Light has enjoyed great successes. Of 20 Cavan Training Centre inmates who took part in a camp in 2000, six secured full-time jobs after their release.

The SA Police picked up the Blue Light concept from Victoria in the early 1980s. It had been set up to provide drug- and alcohol-free entertainment for the 12-to-18 age group. SA officers embraced the idea and staged the state’s first Blue Light function – a disco at Old Noarlunga – on July 31, 1982.

From that humble beginning, other officers were soon staging discos across the state, and the Blue Light phenomenon continued to grow. The organization now runs 33 discos every year.

But, in SA, the programme has also expanded into camps, school curricula, sailing events and a country drop-in centre. Just last year, 44,000 young people took part in Blue Light activities.

The first Blue Light state co-ordinator, Senior Sergeant Karen Robinson, always believed in the worth of the concept. “Some young people worked very hard at making it difficult for you to like them,” she says.

“But many of those kids came from such troubled, dysfunctional backgrounds that they had built up their defences. It was often some of those kids with whom we ended up having the greatest successes.”

Using the core principles of Blue Light, Snr Sgt Robinson went on to set up a school programme called Living Skills. The goal of the programme – which police run in classrooms – was, and is, to modify child behaviour.

Following the early success of the discos, police set up their first Blue Light campsite at Millicent in 1995. And, at Iron Knob, in 1996, Senior Constable Rick O’Dea and Constable Grant Keynes established a second site called Errappa.

The purpose of the camps is to promote leadership, and build confidence and self-esteem in young people – from all backgrounds.

Over three to four days, camp leaders take participants through a range of challenges that includes a high-rope exercise. On ropes as high as 14 metres off the ground, camp-goers are encouraged to perform certain exercises.

Says current camp manager, Senior Constable David Taylor: “It involves wearing a helmet and harness, and our most famous thing is the Leap of Faith. You stand on a 12-metre pole, jump out 2.1 metres and catch a trapeze.

“They’ve got a safety rope, and police – in uniform – are assisting them. We’re usually the ones holding the other end of the rope. So there’s a real element of trust there, and they often (come to) see us in a different light.”

Snr Constable Taylor says the course has shown success even with troubled children suffering problems in school or at home. “When they leave here,” he says, “most, if not all of them, have achieved something. So their self-confidence has grown and, the most important thing is they’ve achieved it with the assistance of police.”

Since police set up Errappa six years ago, 10,000 young people have gone through its challenge course. And, as far back as February, all courses had been booked for 2002. As well, Snr Constable Taylor – who will run about 80 camps this year – had to turn 40-odd groups away.

Blue Light discos, too, remain popular. At the Kadina Town Hall, Senior Constable Ross Linke runs the second largest disco in SA. Up to 800 young people from Kadina and the surrounding area gather for the event six times per year.

Chairman of the Copper Triangle Blue Light Committee, Snr Constable Linke says the disco is invaluable for the contact it brings between police and children. “Police officers who work at these venues get to know more and more kids,” he says.

“It’s a form of communication you probably wouldn’t (otherwise) have. And we do it to give the kids something that is positive, drug-free, and has standards we would love to see throughout the community. With Blue Light, you’re really catering for the future.”

As well as helping some young people turn from potentially criminal lives, Blue Light now also works with victims of crime. Young women who have suffered domestic violence or sexual assault can participate in camps to restore their confidence and self-esteem. Sgt Brett speaks of one woman who became a Blue Light supervisor, scored a job with the government and is about to head overseas.

Since 1994, Blue Light has won eight awards for its work with young South Australians. One of these was the 1999 Active Australia National Award for the best state club/organization.

Blue Light will celebrate 20 years of operation in SA with two discos at Morphettville Racecourse on July 27. One will be set up for young people while the other will cater to anyone who attended Blue Light discos over the past 20 years.

Event organizer, Sgt Brett, says that, on the evening, Blue Light will welcome its one-millionth participant.

Bands Chunky Custard and Planet Square will provide entertainment, and two cast members from Home and Away will make appearances.

• Tickets for the event – which starts at 7:30pm – are available from BASS and the usual Blue Light outlets for $10 (under-18s) and $25 (adults).

PASAweb   Index & Search   Top of Page   Comments   Email to Editor

The Police Journal Online is an official publication of the Police Association of South Australia and is published monthly. Editors of kindred publications can seek permission from the Editor to re-publish any Police Journal Online article. Copyright 2001  The Police Association of South Australia sustance