Polish young people had the chance to meet officers from South Yorkshire Police last week at an event arranged to help build stronger relationships between the police and the Polish community.

The event, which took place at the beginning of May at the Polish Saturday school in the Deaf College aimed to raise awareness within the polish community, particularly the young people about the role of the police and encourage them to interact with the police more.

During the day, 50 young people aged between 10 and 16 years old, and their parents interacted with police from a number of different services. Safer neighbourhood teams, police dogs, firearms response team and the police vehicles were all there to show the residents how the different services worked.

The young people were encouraged to get involved and had an opportunity to look around the police vehicles, try on police uniform, and learn about the different police equipment used. They also watched a display by the firearms response team and helped officers with a police dog display.

The older children were given a talk by Police Sergeant Steve Butler on the dangers of getting involved with guns and knifes whilst the younger children had a go at drawing a uniform they would like to see the police wear.

The event was organised by District Engagement Officer, Rennie Brown with the help of Kataryzn Socha, a teacher at the Polish Saturday school within the Deaf College. PCSO Monika Abram-Koziel and Paul Berndt from the District Cultural & Faith Independent Advisory Group, provided translation for the young people on the day. 

District Engagement Officer Rennie Brown said: “This interactive event was a fun way for children and adults of all communities to learn about the police and gain important messages around safety. This type of engagement builds confidence in communities and caters for all ages and abilities, it was an excellent day and everyone was very eager to get involved. We will continue to run these types of events to ensure we are engaging with all communities in Doncaster.”