Thirteen mini cadets paid a visit to Swanley police station on Monday 6 December 2021, where they received a tour of the facilities and spoke to officers about their role.
The pupils from St Bartholomew’s Primary School attended with their teachers and saw the cell block, police vehicles and examined equipment including a Taser.
Police Sergeant Pete Ballard, of the Sevenoaks Community Safety Unit, said: ‘The children were very interested in the equipment we store in our patrol cars and asked some very probing questions about the different policing roles and the types of incident we are required to attend.’
Schools programmes
Mini cadet programmes involving pupils at eighteen schools across the county are teaching young people aged between eight and 11 about responsible citizenship and helping others.
Mini cadet sessions are held during school hours over a nine-week programme. Led by youth engagement officers, the children learn about Kent Police’s code of conduct, uniform standards and how to contact the emergency services.
Other inputs include first aid, team building and a visit to a custody suite.
After nine weeks the mini cadets will take part in an award ceremony in front of their parents and carers who will be able to see the result of all their hard work.
Youth and Mini Cadet Coordinator, Julia Lindon-Taylor, said: ‘It has been encouraging to see the children grow in confidence each week. They have shown a positive attitude and developed their skills.
‘Part of their work has been to develop a social action event and they have been coming up with some excellent ideas to help tackle bullying, noise pollution, littering and hate crime.
‘They are developing into positive role models for others and appear to be getting a lot out of the programme.’
The Mini Police Cadet programme has been made available thanks to funding from the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Scott.
Cadet scheme
In addition to the mini cadets initiative, Kent Police also runs a cadets programme for young people aged 13 to 18. Volunteers involved in the scheme meet once a week and participate in a number of community initiatives across the year.
For more information on taking part, visit our website.