The Calgary Police Service is quietly working inside area schools to engage children and their families in proactive programs to reduce and prevent crime in their communities.

Police officers have been in Calgary schools for nearly 40 years and now there is one in every high school and in most junior high schools too.

“I would say 90% of the job that we do in the school is prevention,” said CPS Cst. Ron Kubicek.

Officers stroll the halls building relationships with the kids and enforcement is actually the last priority.

They are making it easier to educate and intervene before kids get into trouble.

"People feel safer and more confident that noone’s going to be hurt or bullied," said grade 11 student, Sarah MacVicar.

For the Calgary Police Service, protecting kids starts long before high school. 

The Start Smart Stay Smart program is one of nearly a dozen programs within the department's Community and Youth Services Section which is the largest section of its kind in any Canadian police department.

The S4 program is a strengths-based program that helps kids build on their strengths, make positive choices and develop leadership skills.

The children also learn about the importance of belonging and how they can contribute to a safe and caring community and school.

The program targets kids from kindergarten to grade six and the curriculum is tailored to their ages.

"I think number one is to give children voice. I think number two, is to know that they are cared for and they are safe and that there are people that can help them. And number three is to realize that there are other ways of solving problems than being physical," said Principal Jean Hugill.

Start Smart Stay Safe started as a pilot project and will now be offered in every single Calgary elementary school if the principal wants it.

The hope is to create a community of kids empowered to protect each other.

That also means making kids who are often marginalized, feel part of the team.

Power Play is a program where the coaches are cops and the kids are mostly new Canadians.

The drop-in program is free and gives youth who are strapped by financial or cultural barriers the chance to play hockey.

"It's better to be like, with everyone else, instead of being alone," said Lina Tesgaye.

The kids are from countries where police are often feared and they are learning that there are places to turn in times of crisis.

"It's an investment today that's going to have a huge payoff down the road," said Calgary Police Chief Rick Hanson.

The Police Cadet Program is another arm of this department and is growing every year.

The program is not about recruitment. It focuses on teaching kids respect and social responsibility and is about catching the vulnerable ones before they fall through the cracks.

“Everybody can point to the kid in elementary school, that kid is going to go to jail one day. And then when he does, 10, 12, 14 years later we all go ah, see I told ya. But nobody did anything about it. Well, we're not prepared to do that anymore, “said Chief Hanson.

The school programs are made up of nearly a dozen teams comprised of nearly 150 officers, social workers and health care workers.

Chief Hanson says with this investment in kids he personally guarantees Calgary will have the lowest crime rate of any Canadian city within ten years. 

(With files from Tara Nelson)