Page 62 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

than on the blameworthiness of individuals. This gives children the opportunity
to explain to police officers what their experience of policing feels like, thereby
fostering opportunities for the development of trust and mutual understanding.
For example, at the end of one session, trust exercises are used to further build
a positive relationship. Such sessions will not simply decrease the unacceptable
levels of racial disparity in a community. However, they represent an
opportunity for the police to see the children within their respective areas as
children and consider the impact of their investigative methods.

3.10 We were pleased to learn that at a national level within the police force, there
is an emerging understanding that not only should children be treated
differently, but that processes designed for adults are not suitable for
children. 183 To this end, the MPS have teamed up with the Mayor’s Office for
Policing and Crime to start the ‘Voice of the Child’ project. This project seeks
to see children as their ‘clients’ and to use this viewpoint to improve the
‘service’ they provide.

Voice of the child

In order to assess how children experience the booking in process for
custody, the MPS have organised mock custody scenarios, involving a mix of
real custody sergeants and actors, where they go through each step with
children who have either prior experience or are at risk of doing so in future.
The MPS aim to use this learning to improve the process.

After one of the sessions, they were informed by a girl that the police were
known as ‘The Perverts’, due to the presence of cameras in the toilets. This
anxiety could have been easily avoided but the MPS had never thought to tell
children going through custody that the cameras are pixelated.

As a result, the process was changed, with children now informed of the
cameras and the pixilation of any footage. In addition, girls are told that they
should be assigned a female officer and can be provided with toiletry items, if
needed. To ensure that the correct procedures are followed, a mandatory

183 National Police Chief’s Council, ‘National Strategy for the Policing of Children & Young People’
2015.

55