Two new studies commissioned by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), led by Professor Debra Allnock (University of Bedfordshire) and Professor Helen Beckett (University of Lancashire), call for more consistent child-centred and safeguarding-led approaches across policing in England and Wales. The research finds that children’s experiences of policing vary significantly depending on where they live, the officers they encounter and how well organisational systems support frontline practice.
Details
Child-Centred Policing in Practice
The first study explored how police can build trust and ensure children have a meaningful voice in encounters with officers.
The central finding is that children judge policing as much by how officers interact with them as the substance. Fairness, respect, clear communication, emotional safety and genuine opportunities to be heard were identified as the foundations of trust. Importantly, children distinguished between being given space to speak and genuinely being heard – expecting their views to inform decisions, with clear explanations and follow-up.
Critically, the research highlights how identity shapes children’s experience of policing. Black children described experiences of suspicion, adultification and racialised assumptions, while neurodivergent children and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) highlighted the impact of unmet sensory, communication and processing needs, particularly during fast-paced or high-stress encounters.
The study sets out eight child-centred policing principles, including communication, clarity and explanation, fairness and anti-bias practice, voice and participation, welfare-first responses and reliable follow-through. These principles offer a coherent framework for policing that is sensitive to both identity and context.
Safeguarding Children Involved in Violence
The second study examined how police safeguard and protect children involved in violence – both those experiencing harm and those known or suspected to be causing it. It found broad in-principle support within policing for safeguarding-led approaches, with 97% of officers surveyed agreeing that police have an important safeguarding role and 75% believing a child-first approach could reduce children’s involvement in violence. However, significant variation exists in how these commitments practically translate. Inconsistent application was found to result in unnecessary escalation and criminalisation, unrecognised vulnerability and missed opportunities for protective intervention – particularly for children from minoritised ethnic backgrounds, those with SEND, and children suspected of causing harm.
The study identifies ten best-practice principles, including child-centred, contextual and holistic, trauma-informed, anti-discriminatory, preventative and evidence-informed approaches, alongside the need for collaborative partnership working and whole-systems change.
Commentary
These studies are timely. The NPCC Children and Young Persons Policing Strategy 2024–27 and Children and Young Persons Policing Charter 2025 set a clear national direction, but the research suggests that consistent implementation remains a challenge. As Professor Allnock observed: “Good intentions are not enough. Frontline officers need to be supported by systems that ensure child-centred and safeguarding-led approaches become the norm.” The YEF has also drawn on the findings to produce practice guidance for senior police leaders on reducing children’s involvement in violence. Practitioners representing children in police encounters may wish to draw on the eight child-centred policing principles and ten safeguarding principles when making representations or challenging decisions that fall short of these standards.