Sgt Owens meets Rocky at Tom Quinn Centre

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Sergeant Meg Owens and Tom Quinn Centre students with Rocky the classroom dog.
Sergeant Meg Owens and Tom Quinn Centre students with Rocky the classroom dog.

He may have a bit more hair than the rest of the students but that doesn't stop Rocky the dog from participating in all of the classroom fun at the Tom Quinn Centre.

Sergeant Meg Owens from Bundaberg Police got to meet the newest member of the student group when she dropped by the centre this week.

Rocky helps the students engage while they take on the responsibility of his welfare and his role in the classroom.

Police visit

While the meet and greet with Rocky was new, it was not the first time Sergeant Owens had visited the Tom Quinn Community Centre.

Tom Quinn Community Centre was established to provide services for the disadvantaged and marginalised of our community.

It provides a friendly and safe environment for people to learn new skills, access emotional support and enjoy the company of others.

It has a recycled timber workshop, an engineering workshop, community nursery and garden café.

Many volunteers assist daily with maintaining the gardens and grounds of the centre.

Sgt Owens often stops in to work with the students to help build a positive relationship between police and youth.

This visit, they discussed communication, good decision making and talking things through rather than acting first and thinking later.

Sgt Owens described how important communication is to police in their first level of approach when dealing with all sorts of people.

The students asked questions about other options available to police if communication fails and the situation escalates.