There is a position available for a young person aged 16-25 to help review videos from police body-worn cameras and provide their feedback to improve police practice. This young person will sit on the Aylesbury Vale Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel with other community volunteers.
Stop and Search Scrutiny panels have been set up by lots of police authorities across the country. They aim to improve police practice, build community confidence in the police, and make police practice more fair.
Acting as “critical friends of the police”, Stop and Search Scrutiny panel members have an open and honest conversation with the police about what happens during a Stop and Search event.
In Buckinghamshire, members of the Stop and Search Scrutiny Panel meet in Aylesbury at a Council venue once every 3 or 4 months for approximately 2.5 hours. During the meetings, the members are shown videos from Stop and Search events.
Stop and Search Scrutiny panel members do not need to have any particular experience or expertise. Their role is to provide their personal reflections on the videos they are shown.
The panel members watch each video together and then discuss their thoughts on it with a police representative who facilitates the panel. The police representative can answer questions about standard / best practice and Stop and Search guidance.
The police representative gathers the feedback and shares it with relevant colleagues in Thames Valley Police, including the officers who were present at the Stop and Search case that was discussed. This is used to improve practice in different ways – through conversations with the individual police officers involved in the specific case discussed, in training for new and existing police officers, and via messaging to managers and leaders.
The Aylesbury Vale Stop and Search Scrutiny panel is particularly seeking a young person to join the panel as they acknowledge the views of younger people will be different to older members and because some of the cases discussed involve young people.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please email simon.lincoln@thamesvalley.police.uk with your name, age, a bit about yourself, and why you are interested in joining the panel.
Current members of the Stop and Search scrutiny panel have diverse experiences and ages. The members treat each other with respect, even when their opinions differ to each other. Before attending, you will receive an introduction from the police representative that leads the panel.