Oldham held the first Youth Scrutiny Panel in Greater Manchester at Oldham Civic Centre which will be the first of many sessions.
It is independent from Greater Manchester Police, and supported by Oldham Council’s Youth Service, the panel has been created to scrutinise policing approaches and identify areas for improvement focusing mainly on the use of force and stop searches.
The young people are given an opportunity to bring issues that are concerning them forward, and then offer alternative approaches to policing strategies through building positive relationships with police.
The panel consists of 24 young people from Oldham who were selected by Oldham Youth Services, and included people from a wide range of backgrounds with different experiences and thoughts.
Chief Superintendent Phil Hutchinson of GMP’s Oldham district, said: “I’m really proud that Oldham are leading the way interacting with young people to seek direct feedback from them in order to improve the ways we interact with people of all ages.
“The initial feedback from the panel was positive, it was direct, unfiltered and exactly what we need to hear to drive change in our communities.
“The ability of my officers to engage and interact with the youth panel will positively affect our relationship with them and, ultimately will reduce policing demand in the future by preventing them from becoming victims or offenders.
“Children and young people in Oldham come into contact with the police every day for a variety of reasons such as when they commit offences, or sadly when they become victims of crime.
“I strongly believe that first impressions of police matter and any experience can have a lasting impact, this can be through or face-to-face interactions, social media or by word of mouth.
“Our young people are the future of Oldham and anything we can do to improve the relationship between the public and the police is incredibly important in strengthening our communities.”
Sergeant Lucy Leicester, of GMP’s Oldham District, said: “For some young people, their first contact with the police is in a ‘crisis’ situation, related to their home or family. These people are often some of the most vulnerable in our society.
“Alongside this, negative perceptions can be passed down from generation to generation. This is why it is so important that we learn from our interactions with young people, and this panel is a great start in achieving a collaborative way to work.”
Jodie Barber, head of Youth Services in Oldham, said: “Enabling Children and young people to have a voice and influence within the world around them is key to the work we do within Oldham Youth Services and we are incredibly proud to be partnering with our colleagues in GMP Oldham in the development of the Youth Scrutiny Panel.
“Building collaborative relationships with young people and the Police is integral to a child centred policing approach and enables young people to have true influence in shaping how police communicate, interact and treat young people and this positive development demonstrates a commitment from GMP Oldham to respect the rights of young people and to value them as partners in helping to shape effective and positive policing approaches across the borough.”
One of the panel members, Kyra (aged 15) said: “It’s really good that young people can let the police know what they do wrong and what they do right. To have the opportunity to work this way means that we can really make a difference.”
