Calgary police are about to embark on one of the largest crime prevention programs in North America.
The "Start Smart Stay Safe" program aims to put a police officer in every calgary classroom at least once a year for every student from Kindergarten to Grade 12. That's 5,000 classroom visits a year.
Staff Sgt. Frank Cattoni, with the Youth Services Unit of Calgary Police, says the goal is to work with education officials to ensure kids get consistent messaging "Alberta Education has very specific responsibilities and objectives that they have for different age groups, so if Alberta Learning tells us that the best time to deliver anti-bullying messages is in grade three, that's when we will start to deliver that message at that  appropriate age group."
On Tuesday, police revealed joint efforts with community programs have helped cut Calgary's youth crime rate by 25 per cent over the past 5 years.
The program begins in September.