Police academy pays dividends

The TOAN Alert team and PCSO Louis Baistow-Davies in the Lionheart Challenge, organised in conjunction with the police.

THE crime-fighting minds of Oldham Academy North students have been putting ill-gotten gains to good use as part of a pioneering police scheme.

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 sees cash stolen by criminals and found by police being put into community projects and initiatives, breaking down barriers between children and the force.

Members of Greater Manchester Police visited the school as part of the LionHeart Project, where children are invited to use their imagination and come up with an invention for a new crime-fighting tool.

They then explain the idea to their peers and a judging panel made up of officers and business representatives in a “Dragons’ Den”-style scenario.

The programme is funded entirely by criminals’ cash at a cost of £100,000.

The school is one of 30 being visited between now and March, 2013, during which officers will have engaged with 5,000 young people.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Creely said: “Having seen the impact of this work first hand, I cannot think of a more suitable way to spend money that has come from crooks.

“Schoolchildren get the chance to meet police officers face-to-face and work with them as part of this activity.

Issues

“The students and officers are given a reality check on the issues that affect us all. We capture the input we get from students and take it away.

“Their impressions of the police are often shaped by what they hear or see in the news.

“Understandably, these experiences can form natural barriers for children, but this work enables the barriers to be broken down on both sides.”