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On Thursday 6pm (25 June 2020) , the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson will join a youth community virtual panel to discuss what support they need to thrive in a post Covid-19 world this will include recent events, stop and search, police use of force, impact on education and mental health as well as looking at how to ensure that young people get the right support they need.

The West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit has enhanced our conversation with young people. In the lead up to Thursday’s roundtable there has been a conversation with young people from each of the seven boroughs of the West Midlands. The feedback has been consistent and clear on what a fair and safe place looks like and how we might be able to work together to achieve it. 

The youth-led roundtable, hosted virtually and broadcast on YouTube, will include young people from across the West Midlands and will include two Youth Police and Crime Commissioners Melvin Riley and Hunsa Hussain.

The session will continue the conversation with young people to ensure that future activity is informed by the experiences, hopes and issues faced by young people and options for connecting and listening to them to work towards a fair and safer West Midlands.

This roundtable forms is a part of a wider conversation the Police and Crime Commissioner is having with communities in the West Midlands.

The roundtable will give young people the opportunity to highlight the issues that concerns them and what needs to be done to address them.

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson said: “It’s critical that we listen to what young people have to say. That is why I am hosting this discussion, so I can get an understanding of the issues that they face and what their concerns are.

“Covid-19 impacts the health of older generations whilst young people will feel the social and economic impact and the virus and these will be devastating.

“What happened to George Floyd in America was tragic and has shone a light in the most uncertain of times on some of the inequalities that shamefully still exist in our society which are being exposed further by this current COVID-19 crisis.

“We must include young people in the decision making process and empower them to make positive changes in society.

“Across the public, private and third sector, we all need to be looking at how we can ensure that young people can get the right opportunities to access education, training and employment. By having these discussions, we can look at how we can correct these problems and do the best for your young people”.

Rashid Bayhat Chief Executive of Positive Youth Foundation who are facilitating the roundtable said: “Young people have disproportionately been affected by the recent incidents across the world. Here in the West Midlands, a number of challenges have been identified.

“This round table conversation will be the starting point of local efforts to genuinely connect young people to policy makers from the VRU, with the aim of fully embedding young people in to decision making processes in the future. This is an opportunity to make a lasting change, led by young people across the region”.

The community panel session will be broadcast live on YouTube from 6.00pm-7.00pm on Thursday 25th June 2020 on the PCC’s YouTube and social media channels.

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