Jewish youth put police in spotlight (From Bury Times)

Jewish youth put police in spotlight

7:40am Thursday 18th March 2010

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YOUNG people from a Jewish youth group got the chance to discuss the major issues of the day with their local police officers this week.

On Monday Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) Christiane Rigg and Andy Calvert of the Whitefield Neighbourhood Policing Team paid a visit to the Whitefield Jewish Youth Centre on Park Lane. They gave a talk about their role in the community and answered questions from members of the group.

The officers spoke to the young people about a range of policing issues and gave advice on how to stay safe on the streets. They also showed them some of the equipment the police use in the line of duty.

PCSO Rigg said: “It was a lively evening of discussion and it was great to see the young people’s enthusiasm. Unsurprisingly, issues of crime affecting the Jewish community was a popular topic and we talked about how we police the major religious festivals such as the High Holy Days.

“We also talked about the importance of reporting incidents of hate crime either to us or through the Jewish Community Security Trust (CST). This will enable us to prevent and detect incidents of such crime more effectively.”

CST spokesman Mark Gardner said: “It’s good for Jewish youths to have direct contact with their local police. It breaks down barriers.”

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