Sponsored by
Police officers could be placed in every school
EVERY school in Peterborough could have a police officer on site as part of efforts to tackle youth crime in the city.
EVERY school in Peterborough could have a police officer on site as part of efforts to tackle youth crime in the city.The Government has announced that a cash injection of almost 60 million across England will help deliver the Youth Crime Action Plan, intended to introduce measures that will stop youths on the cusp of getting into trouble spiralling into a life of crime.
As part of the plan, launched in July, Peterborough has been awarded an initial 700,000 of Government money over the next three years to tackle youth crime, plus an immediate injection of 90,000.
Now, the city's young offending service is putting together a plan on how the money will be spent to stop youngsters getting into trouble, which will be presented to the Government next month.
One plan is to have police officers in more Peterborough schools.
Head of Peterborough's Youth Offending Service Bob Footer said just four schools – Bushfield, Voyager, St John Fisher and Thomas Deacon Academy – currently have a police presence.
He said: "What we find is in primary schools the police are successful in communicating with pupils, but at secondary school level they have little contact.
"The first time they seem to speak to them is when they arrest someone.
"If a teenager speaks to a police officer is to ask his advice about being bullied, for example, he will be less reluctant to approach him about more serious concerns.
"If police officers are in the school we believe it will help the relationship between officers and youngsters."
Another move will be to place a youth offending service officer in police stations.
Mr Footer said: "It means as soon as someone is arrested the officer can go out and see the family that day and look at what help can be provided to stop the youth offending further."
The new initiative will be run by the city's youth offending service in partnership with agencies including schools and young people's services.
Among the initiative's many aims will be helping parents who are struggling to control a youngster to get the assistance they need.
Mr Footer added: "We have to identify families that are vulnerable and offer the help needed to change the way they support the child in some instances. We will put together a packet of measures on how we can help.
"Half the Government money will be spent on getting to know the families where a youngster is on the cusp of getting into trouble, and offering early help.
"We will also use child protection legislation to remove young people from the streets, for example, children who are wandering around late at night, and taking them to a safe house.
"The key will be to develop programmes alongside existing programmes.
"We take youngsters to Froglife, for instance, where they do conservation work.
"There are plans to expand that scheme to Fridays and Saturdays and give youngsters the opportunity to pay back into the community by helping to make improvements to homes or gardens while learning new skills."
Comment: Page 12
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Peterborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.