‘This is all a work in progress’

found to have crossed the U.S. border at Fort Erie, Ont. with a plane ticket to Pakistan, where she was to marry a man she had met on social media. She was stopped and returned home.

When Locke found himself in the home of a budding white supremacist last year, it was a first for him — but he has been having similar talks with youths throughout his career. He grew up in Scarborough and worked for five years with the Niagara police before moving to the Toronto force, where he served on the guns and gangs task force before being appointed crime prevention coordinator at Focus Rexdale.

“I wanted to right off the bat make it positive, have a positive impact on that person,” said Locke.

He did not wear his uniform to the intervention. He assured the teen he wasn’t in trouble, that they weren’t going to arrest him. He said he knew it could be intimidating to get a visit from the police but he wanted them to have an honest talk. “I just wanted to have a conversation with him,” Locke said. “Not a debate, just a conversation.”

Rather than challenging the teen’s beliefs, Locke explained what could happen if he continued down the path he was on. He talked about public safety. “I said to him, No. 1, I don’t want you getting hurt,” he said. “You could tell it was kind of resonating with him.”

The teen talked about why he felt the way he did and the officer said people were standing by, ready to help. “It was laying out his options. And it was being honest with him,” he said. “A lot of it was listening, as I’ve done with many gang members over the years.”

When they were done, they shook hands and Locke told the youth to call if he wanted to talk again. Locke said his intervention appeared to have worked out as well as could be expected. He said he had heard the youth was doing well, and police haven’t had to deal with him since.

“It’s not perfect,” he said, "but it’s something.”