Bridges built between young people and the police

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Children and Young People have released their Report on relationships between children, young people and the police.

Youth Ambassador for Cheshire, Dominic Rogers, gave verbal and written evidence to the inquiry regarding good practice being conducted by Cheshire Constabulary and Tytherington High School.

Dominic said, “I welcome the findings that have been outlined in the Report. It’s great that the positive work that’s already happening in Cheshire has been highlighted, as well as the steps that are being undertaken to continually improve relationships between young people and the police.

“There are still lessons to be learned from the report, and areas of improvement. However, the report reaffirms the current situation that I am seeing across the county. Vulnerable groups of young people continue to be highlighted as an area of improvement. This is something I am keen to progress further. By working alongside the police and young people we can continue to make positive strides in improving the relationship.

Today members of the Children in Care Council from Warrington are visiting police headquarters to discuss issues raised at a safeguarding board.”

The Report highlights the importance of police interactions with young people and recommends a review of police training, with the inclusion of young people within the training package. This review is currently underway in Cheshire, in collaboration with Chester University to ensure that the training provided to officers is designed by young people and incorporates their views. This has partly been put into practice with the Police Community Support Officer selection process, as young people have created scenarios and submitted questions to be asked at interview stages. This ensures that the officers feel comfortable and are able to talk to young people on their level.

Recommendation Four within the Report states that “All Police and Crime Commissioner’s should establish mechanisms for involving young people in their work to promote good relationships between children and the police, and to monitor and address issues of concern in their area. These must be representative of the children and young people who most commonly come into contact with the police, and could address issues including advising on: the PCC’s policing priorities, stop and search, police approaches to communicating with children and young people, and positive ways of developing good relationships between the police, children and young people.”

This work is already being undertaken in the county by Dominic in his role as Youth Ambassador. The groups identified in the report are being consulted with to ensure that priorities and communication methods are relevant to the policing needs to Cheshire’s young people.

Dominic added, “I am confident that the majority of the recommendations within the report are currently being fulfilled in Cheshire. This does not mean that we have reached the end, but says that we are on the right track to ensure that young people in the county have their say regarding the police service they receive.”

The Report makes recommendations for newly built custody facilities to have designated areas for young people. Earlier this year, a group of students visited Blacon Custody Suite to observe the conditions for young people and recommended improvements such as the documentation provided to young people during and when exiting custody which is currently being reviewed by a working group of partner agencies. The documentation is hoped to resolve the issues highlighted within the report of confusion of many young people within custody facilities.

The Report also makes the recommendations that 17-year-olds are to be treated as children when they’re in custody, a practice that’s already in place in Cheshire.