Police Scotland is committed to the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach, which serves as the national framework for promoting, supporting, and safeguarding the wellbeing of all children and young people. As a core partner in this approach, Police Scotland focuses on early intervention to support children, young people, and their families, ensuring that help is provided at the right time. Partnership working and early and effective intervention are at the heart of our work.
Aberdeenshire’s Local Policing Plan is reflective of issues that are most important to our communities. Several priorities of this plan link to our commitment to GIRFEC, and they are:
- Protect and support people considered vulnerable though effective collaboration, including children and young people.
- Reduce the harm caused by Serious Organised Crime including cybercrime and criminal exploitation of children.
- Collaborate to reduce casualties and crime on our roads, including around schools.
- Reduce crime through preventing offending and reducing re-offending, via intervention with children in conflict with the law.
Police Scotland work closely with Aberdeenshire Alcohol and Drugs Partnership, Community Safety Partnership and the Community Justice Partnership in action and are key partners in addressing Non-Prescribed Substance Use.
Our Aberdeenshire Children and Young People (CYP) Team includes an Early Intervention Officer, Risk and Harm Reduction Officer and 2 Youth Engagement Officers. Examples of work the CYP Team include:
- Supporting Community Based Officers to engage with young people in Aberdeenshire dependent on the needs and trends within communities.
- Promoting Police Scotland recruitment and supporting young people who have an interest in joining the Organisation after they leave school.
- Offering a wide range of educational inputs with focus on emerging issues, and support partner agencies in delivery.
- Being responsive to emerging trends and working with partners to ensure we are responsive to these trends on a singular and/or multiagency basis.
- Reviewing missing young people to provide support, guidance and implement future safeguarding to reduce or hopefully prevent further missing episodes. React to information obtained during ‘Return Home Welfare Conversations’.
- Monitoring of a single inbox for all CYP partners (schools, children’s homes, Social Work etc) who require support from Police. NorthEastChildrenandYoungPeople@scotland.police.uk
- Working with children and young people who are engaging in concerning or antisocial behaviour, or indeed are in conflict with the law, and divert them away from such behaviour.
- Delivery of the North Aberdeenshire Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYV) which provides young people with opportunities for development and to support their communities. 25% of spaces are protected for care experienced children and those who have faced adversity.