Mini Police award ceremonies celebrate another successful year

Awards and certificates have been handed out across Derbyshire to our mini police officers.

The scheme is designed to give young children the opportunity to learn about safety, their role within the community and what the police do to keep them safe.

Each of the 13 schools have had regular visits throughout the year from their local Safer Neighbourhood Team and guests including dog section, the drone team, and the rural crime team.

The sessions have also educated children about keeping safe online, knife crime with the Kinsella Trust, pedestrian safety and the different roles in the police.

All 721 children who took part in the programme receive a certificate and badge to commemorate their time in Mini Police.

One child from each group was also highlighted as a ‘Mini Police Officer of the year’; for going above and beyond to promote safety or working for the good of their community.

Assistant Chief Constable Michelle Shooter said: “It’s clear from all the graduation ceremonies for Mini Police that the children have enjoyed it immensely and have remembered the key messages that have been covered over the year.

“Thank you to all those who have been involved, especially to our PCs and PCSOs who have run their local Mini Police schemes – the awards have shown that they’ve made a real impression on the children and the scheme wouldn’t be able to run without them.

“Thank you also to the specialist teams and guests who have taken the time to visit our Mini Police groups this year.”

“We look forward to seeing Mini Police return from September even bigger and better next year!”

Derbyshire Police Federation sponsored the Mini Police events, enabling celebratory trophies to be purchased for each school who engaged in the scheme.

Derbyshire Federation secretary Kirsty Bunn said: “The Derbyshire branch felt it was really important to support this incentive to bring together young people and Derbyshire Police, and inspire future police officers.”