Nick Healey and Graeme Ironside from the Volunteer Police Cadets (VPC) would like to hear from any Police Now participants who would be willing to be involved with the Mini Police.
Nick’s blog below provides some information for any Police Now participant interested in social action and future opportunities to engage with the VPC.
Mini Police with officers from Hertfordshire Constabulary
Based in primary schools, Mini Police is a fun and interactive volunteering opportunity for 9 to 11-year-old children. Led by school staff and supported by police, children will learn about policing issues, staying safe and undertaking some volunteering activity in support of a local policing priority. As well as benefitting the community, research highlights the benefits for the personal development of young people involved as well the positive benefits this can have on their overall trust and confidence in the police.
New funding for the Mini Police programme will provide additional opportunities for forces to open up policing to young people and engage them in imaginative ways that will help improve their trust and confidence in the police, supporting the aims of both Police Now and the VPC.
As Police Now highlight in their Case for Change 2014, the Police Now mission is to transform communities, reduce crime and increase the public’s confidence in policing and become a force for social change. The overarching aim is to break the intergenerational cycle of crime in the most deprived areas by creating safe, confident communities in which people can thrive and adopting a long-term preventative approach in order to do so. Similarly, the National Police Chiefs Council’s ‘Policing Vision 2025’ sets out plans for policing and highlights how communities are increasingly diverse and complex, necessitating a more sophisticated and collaborative response to the challenges both now and in the future.
The Mini Police programme provides such a response and could help you in your own mission!
Following on from recent presentations at the Police Now Digital Skills seminars, highlighting the benefits of Police Now and VPC working together, VPC would like to encourage Police Now participants to sign up in their local areas. Please consider the potential value that the Mini Police programme could play in your local community to support problem solving and positively impact on community confidence.
For more information on the Mini Police programme, plans for your force area and opportunities to get involved and helped develop the programme, please contact Graeme or I on the details below:
East London Mosque Unit:
