It was the luck of the draw for 11-year-old schoolboy Jack Wood when he filled in a survey on tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.
Jack, a pupil at Nunthorpe School, was one of well over three and half thousand young people who completed the survey which were included in this year’s specially produced ‘youth proofed’ versions of the annual policing plan—and his name was drawn out of the hat to earn him a brand new mobile phone.
Lucky winner Jack Wood with, from left to right, Dave Parish, Head of House at Nunthorpe School, local police officer PC Sarah Williams, Sarah Wilson, Consultation and Performance Officer with Cleveland Police Authority, and local Community Support Officer Stephen Cook.
This is the fifth year that Cleveland Police Authority, in conjunction with the Just4Youth organisation, owned by West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust, has given young people the opportunity to devise their own versions of the policing plan.
The young people, who produced four versions of the plan this year—one for each Force district—were recruited via a number of different organisations, including the Police Cadets, the West View Project in Hartlepool, Coast and Country Housing in Redcar and Cleveland and the Hype Project in Stockton.
Each plan contains a range of information—including how the force is performing in bringing down crime and delivering some of the highest confidence levels in the country, together with a message from the local district commander, a range of useful numbers for help and support…and the chance to win a prize by responding to a survey asking for views on the effects of different types of crime and anti-social behaviour.
Says Sarah Wilson, the Police Authority’s Consultation and Performance Officer “Once again our ‘youth proofing’ exercise, which has gained widespread national recognition, including praise from a Government Minister, has proved very successful.
“In total we distributed 52, 000 copies of the plans to young people aged 11 to 19 across the Force area—and we received a total of 3,692 completed survey questionnaires. The top three crime concerns were burglary, criminal damage and robbery including mugging, whilst anti-social behaviour concerns included teenagers hanging around the streets, rubbish and litter problems and vandalism and graffiti.
“We do take careful note of the responses from the young people and the survey findings contribute to shaping overall policing priorities, as well as being fed back to local policing teams.”
Added Dave Parish from Nunthorpe School “Jack shows dedication and commitment to every activity he takes part in at Nunthorpe School. As the Pastoral Director of Education for Endeavour House I am already immensely proud of Jack and I look forward to tracking his progress as he navigates through what will inevitably be a successful journey with us. Well done Jack.”