An innovative project that sees school students become ‘’junior detectives’ has been rolled out in Bradford after its success in Leeds earlier this year.

The initiative, led by specialist officers from West Yorkshire Police’s Integrated Offender Management 6th Prison Hub Team, is being supported by Bradford City FC Community Foundation alongside the University of Bradford, St Giles Trust, Bradford Teaching Hospitals emergency department doctors, Law Courts and other partners.

The week-long Junior Detective Programme is designed to help young people to make informed decisions and equip them with the knowledge to act as ‘anti knife crime champions’ in their schools and communities.

This week sees fourteen Year 8 students, aged 13 to 14, from Titus Salts School, Oasis Academy and Tong Leadership Academy put through their paces in the role of detectives investigating a serious knife-related offence.

The fictional scenario has been created by experienced detectives and aims to raise the students’ awareness of the consequences of serious youth violence and criminal exploitation linked to gangs.

The group will receive inputs from police officers, NHS trauma surgeons and other speakers with lived experience of gang and knife crime, while they investigate the incident, including forensic examination of the crime scene.

The project has been given the use of facilities at the University of Bradford for the week and builds up to a visit to Bradford Crown Court where the case will be heard in front of His Honour Judge Jonathan Rose.

The week concludes with a celebration event at the University of Bradford stadium where the first cohort of students will be officially awarded ‘anti-knife crime champions.’

Bradford District Commander Chief Superintendent Richard Padwell of Bradford District Police, said:

“This is a fantastic project that aims to capture the minds of young people and give them an insight into the issues around knife crime, gangs and criminal exploitation and following an investigation throughout the key stages.

“Tackling knife crime especially amongst our younger communities remains a top priority for the police and our partners. We recognise that everyone in our community has a role to play in raising awareness of the issue and helping to keep young people safe.

“I hope that these students gain valuable experiences this week and share their learning with their peers when they get back to school.”

Dr Alex Surtees, Assistant Professor in Forensic Science at the University of Bradford, said: “The University welcomes participating students from Bradford district schools onto campus for this innovative project.

“It is important for the University to play its part in helping to raise awareness among our young generation of issues including knife crime, gangs and youth violence.

“The students will participate in activities with the police, crime scene investigators, medical professionals and forensic practitioners around the investigation of knife crime. They will also hear talks from victims and perpetrators of knife crime and obtain court room experience, gaining real-world knowledge on these subjects throughout the week.

“The University prides itself on our engagement with the local community and hosting this week-long event is a further example of that.”

Pavan Sembi from the Bradford City FC Community Foundation said:

“The Peer Action Collection team are thrilled to be part of this unique project.

“At the Foundation, we believe in early intervention and educating young people to become advocates for positive change.

“We are keen to support this initiative and hope these young people take the knowledge they gain and share it with their peers.”

Iain Hadley, Head of Service (Yorkshire) - St Giles Trust said:

“We are delighted to be involved again in this innovative project, this time in Bradford, which is designed to create a safe space for young people to see all angles and consequences of youth violence and exploitation linked to gangs. The St Giles team members involved, some of whom have lived experience of the issues at hand, are looking forward to being part of this preventative and educational initiative to help give young people skills and foresight to make better decisions. Mentoring is one of our core working principles, and we know that through initiatives like this one and other work we do in Bradford as part of the SAFE Taskforce, amongst others, building trusted relationships between adults and young people in a mentoring setting reduces the risk of violence, and we are happy to deliver this work in this unique setting."

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