New Street Watch group to engage with young people

The team, which is made up of local students from Walsall College, will patrol the town centre and aims to give a young person’s perspective on local issues and advise officers on the most effective ways to engage with youngsters.

PCSO Rachel Gallier, from St Matthews Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Street Watch is running across many residential areas across the force, but this is one of a few which is made up solely of young people.

“The 17 students taking part are public services students and they’ve already completed their first patrols in the town centre.

“The team is helping to provide extra visibility in the busy town centre which is already proving to be of great benefit to Christmas shoppers and local businesses.

“This is our first cohort of students from the college and we hope to join up more students from other courses in the near future."

The Street Watch group will patrol on a rota system and all group members had to take part in training and have the appropriate background checks. The first patrols took place at the end of November.

Inspector Tony Eustace, from Walsall Police, added: “Walsall College has been fantastic in its approach to partnership with the police. The Street Watch initiative is another example of how engaged the college is when it comes to contributing to keeping Walsall safer.

“The Uniformed Services students are a fantastic addition to our work in Walsall town centre, and will work with local officers to promote community safety. The college’s commitment continues into next year as we are working towards a Police Cadet programme, which will be hosted by them."

Anyone who is interested in finding out more about what is happening in their area can sign up to WMNow community messaging service at wmnow.co.uk or follow @StMatthewsWMP on Twitter

You can find out about getting involved in Street Watch in your area here: west-midlands.police.uk/get-involved