PRESS RELEASE

Police officers from across Scotland have taken part in a unique training course designed to help boost their skills in schools.

Campus officers from Strathclyde, Dumfries & Galloway, Lothian & Borders, Central and Fife took part in the course designed to help them learn new techniques to deal with the ups and downs of school life.

Helping pupils with anger management, self confidence and issues surrounding violence and underage drinking were all addressed as part of the course. Among those presenting the sessions were senior educational

psychologists Fiona Williams and Mary Bendermacher from Glasgow City Council, who presented a session on Child Development and Attachment, Dr Christine Goodall, Professor Richard Welbury and consultant Mark Devlin of the Glasgow Dental Hospital who focused on anger management and Anderston Primary School headteacher Mary McKerrell, who helped pilot the Glasgow for Nurture Groups. Mary delivered a session on the importance of nurturing in schools.

Inspector Patrick Duffy, who co-ordinates the Campus Officer programme, said:
“Campus officers perform a unique role - they’re not there to police classrooms, they’re there to build stronger community relationships, and children are a key part of any community.

“Many of the skills required to perform this role, such as helping pupils with anger management issues or violent behaviour are not covered in depth by standard police training, so in order to help the officers, and in turn, the pupils, we set up this course.

“The great thing about this course is that it not only benefits the officers and the kids that they can subsequently help, but also the school and the wider community beyond, especially when it comes to issues like violent or anti-social behaviour.”

Thirty seven officers took part in the two training courses, which were held at the Scottish Police College. At the core of the course was a series of sessions on Motivational Interviewing, presented by Steve Delight of Delight Training Services.

Rather than forcing troubled individuals to change their behaviour, Motivational Interviewing uses a range of techniques to encourage them to commit to changing their behaviour by focusing on the motivation for change rather than the act of changing itself.

Karyn McCluskey, co-director of the Violence Reduction Unit and key developer of the Campus Officer training programme said:

“The best way to get a troubled youngster to change their behaviour is to give them a reason for doing so. For example, if you know that behaving violently could mean you don’t get a job, or you lose your girlfriend, you’re less likely to do it. Motivational interviewing helps people identify where the problems are and think about how they can change.

“By giving campus officers training in these techniques, we are giving them an important tool in helping to tackle problems of violence and anti-social behaviour, often before they fully flourish. This means a pupil who might be starting down the wrong path can begin to turn themselves around, something of benefit not only to them individually but to their family and the community as a whole.”

PC Geoff Smith, one of the longest serving Campus Officers, based at St Mungo’s Academy in Glasgow’s East End said:

“This kind of training will be hugely beneficial for campus officers on a day to day basis. Our job is not about patrolling pupils, it’s about building stronger links with the community, and kids are an important part of that – they’re the workers, parents and adults of tomorrow. Helping them build a better future for themselves means a better future for their community, too.”