Chris 'Stingray' LeRay/PCYC Aurukun

For young people to be positively engaged with their communities, they need to feel like their community values them. If this isn’t obvious to them, youth will make their own fun, often times at the expense of the community. Young men in particular find a lot of thrill and enjoyment pushing the boundaries of the law; it is just in our nature. This will see kids in trouble with police for petty crime, and invariably condemned by locals as ‘criminals’. An unfortunate flow-on effect is the tarnished relationship with authority. This is harmful not only to the fabric of community health, but also the viability that the community will prosper in the future.This week, we are unveiling SGT Chris 'Stingray' LeRay and the work of Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC). Specifically, we discuss the role of Aurukun’s PCYC, and how it is attempting to engage positively with local youth.Aurukun is an isolated, Indigenous community located in Far North Queensland on the Cape York Peninsula. Youth committing crime is a very present issue there. It falls onto the shoulders of people like Chris to re-engage with local young people, be a positive role model, and steer them towards a meaningful and salubrious life.We spoke about the background and purpose of PCYCs, how they give fun, active and appropriate outlets for youth, and why this is so important, especially in places like Aurukun. We also spoke about the nature of Aurukun as a community, and why it is conducive to higher rates of youth crime. Finally, we discuss how institutions like PCYC allow police to interact positively with the community, reframing the perception of their relationship with Indigenous peoples in particular. A cool little bonus, we recorded the podcast in Aurukun’s police station interview room. The acoustics were surprisingly great!Please enjoy, everyone!And remember, the most inspiring person that you've never met could be sitting right beside you.