PCC asks county’s young people for their views

Derbyshire’s young people have been telling the county’s Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Charles their views on crime.

Discussions held over the last few months with 189 young people in a wide range of forums and groups found that the majority had negative perceptions of the police. However, many had positive feedback about their actual experience with their local Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and of being held in custody.

Key findings included: nearly a third (31 per cent) would only report what they perceived as a ‘serious’ offence; a quarter (25 per cent) would not report because of fear or the risk of bullying, and many younger people were not clear how to report crime, especially non-emergency or persistent or petty crime.

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Mr Charles said: “I am very grateful to those who took part in these discussions. Their views have helped us to ask the right questions in a wider survey, putting us on track for pinpointing the issues that are important to our young people. I believe the findings will help us to build better relationships between younger members of our communities, resulting in less crime and anti-social behaviour.”