Trading places – Youngsters play the role of police and fire officers

Officers from the British Transport Police (BTP) worked with West Midlands Fire Service last week to give youngsters the opportunity to trade places with members of the emergency services.

The project, part of an initiative by BTP’s Safer Travel Police Team, was designed to make the young people – some of whom are known to the police – think about the wider implications of their actions and how the emergency services have to deal with their behaviour.
It is hoped the scheme will have deterred the youngsters from going on to commit crime once they see what the emergency services have to cope with on the front line.

Forty five young people from six Birmingham Youth Service projects, aged between 13 and 16, spent two days with officers from the Safer Travel Police Team and West Midlands Fire Service staff.

They began the sessions by learning about key aspects of railway and fire safety designed to keep them safe and out of trouble in the future.

On the second day, roles were reversed and the youngsters received full police riot gear and fire service protective clothing and played the part of the emergency services in a number of specially set-up scenarios. Police and fire officers traded places with the youngsters and played the part of youths during the different scenarios.

Sergeant Chris Casey, who is now retired but works with the Safer Travel Police Team, said: “The initiate has come together after some great partnership work with West Midlands Fire Service and Birmingham Youth Service. It was an opportunity to deliver vital safety messages to young people in an interactive way – it’s something they’ll remember for a long time and share with their peers.”

The first session took place at the West Midlands Fire Academy where the group learnt about arson and how the fire service deals with people trapped in road traffic accidents. On day two, the group was given a briefing about public order policing before playing out a number of different scenarios officers might face when policing events involving large crowds.

The scenarios included a mock ‘riot’ with the young people playing the part of police and firefighters who were called out to deal with the disturbance, putting into practice what they had learnt over the two days.

In addition, youngsters were taken to King’s Norton rail depot and shown some of the dangers the railway environment poses to those who trespass on or near the line.

Liz Wood, Outreach youth worker, said: “Birmingham Youth Service is thrilled to be involved in this project. It’s a positive and innovative way to educate young people about the roles of the emergency services. This is an excellent piece of partnership work between Birmingham Youth Service, the Safer Travel Police Team and West Midlands Fire Service.

“We hope this is just the start of our working partnership with the emergency services and we hope this will become a city-wide event in the future.”

The Safer Travel Police Team has officers from BTP and West Midlands Police working with West Midlands transport authority CENTRO and train, tram and bus operators to help reduce crime across the West Midlands transport network.

The team’s Safer Travel Command Centre has just won the ‘Most Significant Safety Initiative of the Year’ title at the Light Rail Awards ceremony in London last month.