Pioneering design workshop strengthens relationship between young people and the Police

An inspirational and unique design challenge brought 50 designers and 50 16-24 year olds together with City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police this weekend.

The aim was to build trust and confidence between the young people and police, by working with a design team on a series of design concepts that would support a positive future relationship.

The event was led by Digital Skills Consulting sponsored by AWS and conceived & hosted by design experts Experience Haus at its Shoreditch studio. Other organisations taking part included Barking & Dagenham College, Activate Learning, Hackney Youth Parliament, The Crib, The Wickers, Women’s Inclusive Team and the Osmani Trust.

The workshop also gave the students a chance to explore exciting future careers in the design and technology sectors. The young people met with mentors, employers, business and government leaders and other students, helping to develop their communication, teamwork, creativity and networking skills.

Following the success of the event, further workshops are planned with the young people to develop their innovative ideas and their business and personal skills.

Chief Inspector Ray Marskell from the City of London Police said:

This exciting event allowed us to engage with young adults from across London. We understand how important it is to maximise opportunities to meet and get to know the communities we serve better. We are grateful to AWS for their support, along with partners from the Metropolitan Police Service. It was an enlightening experience to hear the group’s ideas about how we can improve our relationship with younger people, and we are committed to building on their solutions and bringing them to life where possible.”

Chief Inspector Lucky Singh from the Metropolitan Police said:

“This was an amazing event that allowed the Metropolitan (Met) and City of London Police (CoLP) to focus and actively engage with young people, especially from underrepresented groups and females.

“We are extremely grateful to Experience Haus for hosting the event. There were many great ideas, suggestions and possible solutions put forward that we are confident will help build better relations between young people and the Police services. The Met and CoLP will continue working alongside AWS and Digital Skills Consulting to deliver these workshops”

Amazon Web Services, Head of Justice and Public Safety, John Pittaway said:

“This was an inspiring event that gave young people the opportunity to have their voices heard by City of London Police (CoLP) and Metropolitan Police (Met) and be involved in designing solutions that will help to improve relations between young people and police. We look forward to continuing the partnership with CoLP,  Met and young people from London to address these important topics.”

Digital Skills Consulting develops projects with the private sector, working with FE colleges, Institutes of Technology and charities to provide students with real-world challenges and experience. Director Julia Von Klonowski said:

“It has been amazing to see these young people confronting real-world, social issues that affect them in their daily lives and working closely with representatives from law enforcement and the technology sector.

“These students have shown tremendous courage, ingenuity and a sense of community. Some really interesting and exciting ideas were shared. We are extremely grateful to our sponsor AWS and all the stakeholders who gave their time to make the event such a success. We look forward to seeing how these ideas are developed.”

Hosting the event at its Shoreditch studios, Experience Haus design alumni spent time asking students and the police a range of questions to help them shape ideas around ways to improve relations between the two. The experts provided advice and guided the process to ensure the end solution was viable and technically possible.

Experience Haus’ Creative Director, Amit Patel, said:

“It’s important to us that every voice is heard during the design of important products and services, especially when we are talking about tackling challenges that have a social impact.

“Experience Haus is proud to play a pivotal role in this, and days like today bring together our growing design community, as well as inspiring the future creatives of tomorrow.

It’s been enjoyable watching the empathy, storytelling and collaboration unfold between everyone involved, throughout the day.”

ENDS