Officers’ visit to schoolchildren makes a difference
Main article content
The difference that community engagement can make was highlighted when neighbourhood officers visited Birchwood Avenue Primary School on Friday (10 March).
PCs Andrew Dockerill, Peter Hulley, Dan Moakes and Kelly-Jay Pettersson, from the Welwyn Hatfield Safer Neighbourhood Team, visited the Hatfield school as part of their community engagement duties.
The purpose was to boost the children’s trust in police and demonstrate to them that they can always approach officers for help.
To aid the engagement, the officers brought along two police vehicles and some equipment and these were met with great enthusiasm by the children! There was even more enjoyment as the children got to take turns trying on the officers’ hats and jackets.
The officers found that even by the end of the session, the children had already grown in confidence and were less afraid to speak up and ask questions.
PC Kelly-Jay Petterson said: “Both we and the children really enjoyed the visit. Naturally, the children were a little timid at the start, being faced with four uniformed police officers but by the end of the session they approached us with confidence, playing games and having fun.
“They also asked lots of excellent questions and some of the children clearly showed potential as little police officers in the making!
“We left the school pleased that the children had enjoyed our visit, and knowing that some, who were previously nervous about approaching the police, had gained a positive new perspective. We plan to re-attend on a more regular basis and have already scheduled further engagement sessions with the school for the coming months.
“If children grow up trusting the police, they will be more likely to come to us for help. Community engagement like this is such an important part of neighbourhood policing as it helps to create that trust.
“We are already looking forward to our next visit to Birchwood Avenue and seeing the children again.”
To receive police messages about a range of topics including burglaries, scams and missing people in your local area, sign up to OWL (o)or download the ‘OWL crime alerts’ app from your app store.
You can use our community voice platform ‘echo’ to let us know what you think we should be prioritising in your area. Your feedback will help towards shaping our local policing priorities, initiatives and campaigns. Visit the following and tell us your thoughts.
Officer showing students police car
Officer engaging with the children in the classroom
