Young people from across Wiltshire gave their views on policing and criminal justice at the Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Commission’s (WSYC) annual conference, which was held in Swindon this week (Tuesday 12 March).

Set up in 2021 by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and run by Leaders Unlocked, the WSYC provides a voice for children and young people on how the police do their jobs and about the crime which affects them the most.

The young commissioners spoke about their experiences with the police and talked to an invited audience of police officers and local organisations about the research they conducted with over 1,400 young people from across the county.

As part of their research, the Youth Commission identified and fed back on five key priorities and gave recommendations on the following areas:

• Prevention
• Relationships with the Police
• Hate Crime
• Serious Violence and Abuse
• Gang and Drug Culture

One of the main topics of discussion focussed on knife crime, with the Youth Commission asking for more to be done around education about the dangers of carrying a knife and the laws surrounding joint enterprise.

The young commissioners also talked about hate crime and shared how their research showed a perception of racism being normalised amongst young people and how they felt more needed to be done to raise awareness the support available to victims of hate crime and how they can report it.

Speaking about the conference, Wiltshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Wilkinson said:

“The work of the Youth Commission has been incredibly important. They helped to appoint the new Chief Constable as well as a new Deputy Chief Constable and new Assistant Chief Constable.

“Their role in shaping the future of Wiltshire Police cannot be underestimated.

“Now, we need to take their findings and recommendations and put them to good use, so that we may use their influence to better inform our approach to dealing with crimes that matter to young people.

“Through the Youth Commission, we have an insight into the thoughts of over a thousand young minds across Wiltshire and Swindon. It would be a terrible waste if we ignored the valuable contributions we’ve heard at this conference.                                         

“My pledge to them is that their efforts won’t just disappear into the ether but become a key part of our strategies for engaging with young people”

Superintendent Guy Elkins, the hub commander for Swindon, gave a closing speech at the conference and he was equally impressed:

"One of the main things I picked up from this conference was that young people share many of the concerns I do around knife crime, violence against women and girls, hate crime and the need to forge stronger relationships within our communities between younger people and the police. As I said to them, it keeps me awake at night thinking about how we are going to solve these problems.

 "Through using their recommendations, it falls upon us, and our partners across a number of public agencies, to take their work forward and develop working strategies to build upon their good ideas, show them they are being listened to and continue to involve them in our conversations.  

 "Their presentation gave us all a fresh perspective on how young people view crime and the police and I'd like to thank them for their hard work and their research."

Thursday 14 March 2024