A campaign to give youngsters information, guidance and support, has been launched by Cumbria police.
Did You Know? has been created to help young people and their parents and carers information about issues including:
- Violent crime
- Indecent image sharing
- Consent
- Personal safety
- Dispelling common crime myths
- Drugs
- Personal safety
- Crime reporting
Inspector Gemma Hannah, child centred policing lead, said: “The purpose of this campaign is to raise awareness and provide advice and guidance for some of the issues which may impact on a child’s life.
“The policing of children is an incredibly important part of the service we deliver.
“Children represent our future society and what we do now will influence the confidence they have in us to make them feel safe, supported and engaged for generations to come.”
Cumbria’s child centred policing team was set up in 2020 following extensive research into childhood offending, conducted with the support of partner constabularies.
A child centred approach to policing aims to improve the quality of policing for children by acknowledging their differences, recognising their vulnerabilities, and meeting their needs.
Officers have been trained in specialist areas including adverse childhood experiences and trauma informed care.
The teams, who are stationed across the whole of Cumbria, work closely with a network of agencies, charities and partners who provide support services for children.
Insp Hannah added: “Bringing a child centred policing focus to the force has already created results. We have witnessed many success stories, with young people making positive choices, improving their life chances and wellbeing.
“Being able to dedicate our work to supporting children through the child centred policing team is hugely rewarding.
“Anyone under the age of 18 is a child. Their emotional and physical maturity is different from adults and needs to be understood – in particular, distress and trauma manifests itself differently in a child’s behaviour.
“Our child centred policing teams are focus on the ‘why’ of behaviour and that is very effective; what does life look like for the child, have they suffered any trauma, do they have any unmet needs?
“From abuse, conditioning, bereavement to fear, if we can understand the ‘why’ and provide the right support plan, then we have a real opportunity to stop negative behaviour, creating a life-changing opportunity. That possibility for every child, from our intervention, is really important to me.”
