A Sunderland student - who made history by becoming one of the UK’s first disabled Volunteer Police Cadets – is achieving his dreams after winning a special commendation for his police work, from the Chief Constable of Northumbria Police.
Jake Knight, 20, who has cerebral palsy, is deaf and uses a wheelchair, impressed Northumbria Police so much that the Chief Constable, Winton Keenen QPM, DL handpicked him to accompany him on the beat in Newcastle, after handing him a special commendation.
On the beat in Forest Hall, Jake engaged with four drivers to question them about aspects of safety that he has learned about as part of his cadetship.
Read more: Suspected drug dealer arrested after being found with 'white powder' in Northumberland
Chief Constable, Winton Keenen QPM, DL said: “It has been a real privilege to go out on the beat with Jake. He spoke to four drivers and questioned them about road safety issues, without any prompting from me at all.
“In Northumbria Police we believe everyone who wants to make a difference should be given the opportunity to do so and Jake, along with the rest of his group of fellow cadets are truly - doing just that. We are fortunate to have a significant number of volunteers working alongside us, who freely give up their own valuable time to the benefit of others.
"By doing so, I know they find it incredibly rewarding and we now have a group of new additions that will add even further value to our communities.”
Northumbria Police teamed-up with The Percy Hedley Foundation to launch one the UK’s first Volunteer Police Cadet scheme for students with disabilities, back in October.
Mr Keenen is personally ensuring that the cadets are given the same training and opportunities as their able-bodied counterparts. The Volunteer Police Cadets (VPC) is the uniformed youth group of policing and, until now, had only been accessible to able bodied, mainstream educated young people.
Assistant Principal at Hedleys College, Gary Nelson, said: “A lot of our students were interested in police work so we were thrilled to be one of the first college in the country to be able to offer them this amazing opportunity. We are so proud of how they’ve taken on the challenges the police have set them and they are learning so much.”
The very first cohort of cadets were officially sworn-in by the Chief in October last year at a special ceremony held at the college. The VPC scheme aims to open-up policing to young people - giving them a practical understanding of policing, to encourage the spirit of adventure and good citizenship.
Eight volunteer police cadets from Hedleys College, who were selected via a recruitment process, have been given a uniform and sworn-in for duties. Over a full academic year, the cadets will learn all about policing including the phonetic alphabet, hate crime, anti-social behaviour, knife crime, crime prevention, internet safety, dog handling, wellbeing and mental health, theft, road safety/drink driving and anti-bullying.
The cadets will learn through lots of off-site visits to various places including a mosque, a speed watch exercise, a beach, the force’s dog-handling unit – and via classroom-based lessons. Hedleys College is an independent specialist further education provider for students aged 16-25 who have education, health and care plans.
Read next:
- Woman cut free from car and taken to hospital after rush hour A1 crash near Washington
Tragedy as 76-year-old man dies after being rescued from house fire in South Shields
Police cordon in Tynemouth linked to search for missing Blucher man Karl Pyle
Family pays tribute to 'loving' 75-year-old Northumberland motorcyclist who died in crash
Body found in search for man who went missing after leaving hospital in Gateshead
