Why is this a priority for the Police Service of Northern Ireland?
Children and young people are often the unseen victims of many crimes and because they are not an adult, their voices are not always heard, nor do they feel confident or empowered enough to speak out. As a police service, we want to work with our partners to change this.
Over 400,000 young people (under 18s) live locally and so they make up a huge percentage of the community that the Police Service of Northern Ireland serve and protect.
Northern Ireland and its complex cultural backdrop has meant that we have to work incredibly hard to build trust and confidence within our communities, especially amongst young people whose first port of call isn’t always the Police.
We want young people in Northern Ireland to know that we are their police service, we are there for them and we take their concerns as seriously as those of adults.
Our Strategy
We have launched our first Children and Young People Strategy. Through this document, we are pledging as a Police Service to be relentlessly ambitious in ensuring that; children and young people are heard, that they have the opportunity to help shape the future of policing and that they ultimately feel safe.
Our work is aligned with the National Police Chief’s Council guidelines and based on a number of key themes:
- Engagement
- Safety and protection
- Victims and witnesses
- Offending
- Stop and search