Working with Young People

Gloucestershire Police Authority supports Under 17 Drivers Pathfinder Limited

The Authority is delighted to be working with Under 17 Drivers Pathfinder Ltd to deliver a unique opportunity to young people in the County, aged 15 and 16, (supported by their parents), to teach fundamental driving skills and develop positive attitudes to risk awareness and road safety. Young people from Gloucestershire took part in a Pathfinder event at Cheltenham Race Course in October 2011 and there will be a further opportunity to participate at Cheltenham Race Course in April 2012. For more information please visit the Pathfinder Website

What do we do?

Gloucestershire Police Authority wants to engage with young people from around the county, to seek their views and opinions when designing and developing policing strategy, and to encourage them to support the police in building safer and stronger communities. We recently adopted the Hear By Right Framework to help us identify where we can further include young people. This shows where there is greater need for future support of officers and engagement with young people.

Engaging and working with young people is part of every day practice for modern police officers and PCSOs. We work closely with local policing teams and the Constabulary’s schools engagement team to make sure that young people are included in decisions that affect them.

How does this help?

By including young people in policing strategy we are creating a more informed policing service for a larger proportion of our community. Young people are supported to participate in local democratic processes through forums and events. Many young people have received accreditation for their positive contributions and time volunteered in the community.

Informal education programmes have been designed and developed by young people around crime and safety, often with some contributing to the facilitation of the session or events. Groups have applied and accessed pockets of money to facilitate events and programmes of work, planning not just for themselves but for the benefit of young people in their communities.

We work in partnership with agencies across the County from Education, Health and Criminal Justice and have formed many links. This is often the catalyst to form new relationships between youth groups and the agencies who wish to support them.

Keep checking this site for regular updates of projects, stories and news of previous and forthcoming events.