Primary school children to work alongside PCSOs in Dursley (From Gazette Series)

Primary school children to work alongside PCSOs in Dursley

8:30am Wednesday 1st July 2009 in

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BE PREPARED to see a much smaller long arm of the law as school children get their own role working in the community.

In a pioneering new initiative, primary school pupils have been trained as Junior Community Officers (JCOs) to work alongside Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) in Dursley.

The idea came from local PCSO Claire Silcox, of the Dursley Safer Community Team, after chatting to local children.

Her idea was to get children involved in policing their own environment so they will grow up respecting it.

PCSO Silcox said: "The idea for JCOs came to me whilst I was patrolling a local park. A group of children approached me and asked what I was doing, I explained that there had been a report of graffiti on the play equipment and I had come to have a look so I could arrange for the appropriate people to come and clean it off.

"The children were upset that their local park was being damaged and a lot of litter was being left behind in the area which they like to play in. They expressed a wish that they could do something about it.

"This got me thinking that if PCSOs could work with small groups of children in their local area the children would develop a sense of responsibility and respect for their local surroundings and hopefully encourage their peers to do the same."

Both she and colleague, PCSO Mike Trebble, put in a successful application to Crime Beat, a charity that encourages young people to get involved with crime reduction activities.

They then approached Dursley Primary School where 40 pupils volunteered for the role as a JCO and eight were chosen.

The JCOs are now fully trained and took to the streets last month in their new uniforms, carrying identification badges and pocket notebooks just like real PCSOs.

Raven Tomlinson, 10, a JCO, said: "We went to the park by our school to have a big get together called Pride in your Neighbourhood with all the emergency services and neighbourhood people – it was great."

JCO Becky True, 11, added: "We are all having a great time, thank you Mike and Claire and all the community officers."

Over the next six weeks the JCOs wil get involved in a number of projects including property marking, patrolling, speed checks, litter picks and monitoring dangerous parking around the school.

PCSO Silcox added: "We feel that the JCO scheme has been really successful and has significantly improved our relationship with local children and their parents.

"Residents have also noticed the JCOs out and about with their local PCSOs and have given us some very positive comments.

"We are hoping to roll out the scheme in other parts of the Dursley area during the next school year."