A Bowerhill scout group took part in an interactive exercise to design a police force with a fictional £200 million budget.
1st Bowerhill Scouts joined hundreds of other scouts from across Wiltshire for the event, part of the Wiltshire Police Scout Challenge Badge.
Troops gathered at Wiltshire Police Headquarters in Devizes to participate in activities designed to test their problem-solving, teamwork and leadership skills, while providing insights into the critical role police officers and staff play in keeping communities safe.
The event also gave Wiltshire Police the opportunity to understand the concerns of young people and how to provide an even better service to them.
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Chief Constable Catherine Roper, the Child and Young People lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said, “We are thrilled to host Wiltshire Scouts for the second year running. Youth organisations like Scouts embody everything we value in policing: leadership, resilience and a commitment to helping others.
“Given policing’s need to build trust and confidence, events like this are critical to allowing young people to see a friendly face of policing and have a good dose of fun. We’re not just teaching young people about the important role the police play in keeping our communities safe but also empowering them to make choices that benefit the future of their communities and themselves.”
The scouts faced a range of challenging activities aimed at giving them a realistic view of police work, including ‘Design Your Own Police Force’, where they created a vision in teams, including priorities and structure for a police force, working within a real-world budget scenario.
Over lunch, scouts explored a policing marketplace, meeting officers and staff from various departments, including the Crime Scene Investigation team, Digital Investigations and Intelligence Unit, Police Cadets, and the control room and communications and media team.
