Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland’s Violence Reduction Network (VRN) along with violence reduction colleagues in Nottinghamshire, the West Midlands, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and the National Police Chief’s Council to hold the Reimagining Policing Hope Hack event which took place on Monday July 8 at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.
The Reimagining Policing Hope Hack is the 33rd event in a series of Hope Hack events held across the United Kingdom as part of an initiative headed by The Hope Collective – a powerful partnership between the Damilola Taylor Trust and a wide range of other public and voluntary sector organisations including the UK Youth Sector and the national network of Violence Reduction Units (VRU). This Hope Hack was the first focused specifically around policing and the solutions required to create safer and fairer policing, through the eyes of young people.
The event was hosted by young people, involved a panel of young people and solution-led workshops facilitated by young people. The event featured an array of motivational talks and performances from Patrick Hutchinson, Nathan Parker and Jermain Jackman in addition to LLR’s very own performers Strizzy Strauss, Arpey and Dede and LVT alongside other talented young performers.
Twenty-five of our local young people joined 60 of their peers from across the country. These young people are working with our local community and education partners including The Centre Project, St Matthews Big Local, ZamZam Unlimited CIC, The Dialogue Society, SOCOPA, Go Getta CIC and Limehurst Academy.
Madina Ibrahim (ZamZam Unlimited CIC) is a young person who attended the day, sat on the panel and facilitated one of the workshops. Madina said “The Reimagining Policing Hope Hack was amazing, the young people were so understanding and compassionate of the struggles the police face day-to-day. Often at times it’s felt that the same compassion isn’t felt towards us. The presentations showed how we came up with some really great ideas for solutions. But the day could not have been completed without the really cool performances!”
Grace Strong, Director of VRN and Head of Prevention said: “Hope Hacks are all about giving young people the space to discuss the issues that matter to them and generate solutions. At previous Hope Hacks, policing has been one of the issues consistently raised so it has been fantastic to attend an event dedicated to this topic. As ever young people have risen to the challenge brilliantly and I am sure that, like me, other adults left the event feeling committed to ensuring their hard work makes a difference.”
One of the central themes that emerged from the day was the need for mutual trust and respect between the police and communities. Other key proposals from the event included: Enhanced community engagement, reformed stop and search practices and practical training for officers.
Chief Superintendent Emma Maxwell added: “Today was invaluable. Youth engagement and building trust and confidence is a priority for Leicestershire Police. I was so impressed with young people’s willingness to be candid, sharing both their experiences of policing and ideas for change. I will now be ensuring these insights are used to shape our future approach and work.”
Ends.
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