‘It’s Like another Family Innit’: Building Police–Youth Relations through the Metropolitan Police Service Volunteer Police Cadet Programme

Abstract

Attempts to improve the relationship between police and young people are at the forefront of contemporary discourses on how best to secure greater confidence, consent, and compliance with the police. Underpinned by the work of procedural justice theorists, the assertion here is that if the public perceive the police to be fair in their actions and decision making, they are more likely to judge them worthy of respect, deference, and cooperation, and reflect positively on their encounter, regardless of the outcome. Drawing on research carried out with 210 young people, this article considers the work of the Volunteer Police Cadets within the Metropolitan Police Service. We argue that engagement with the programme provides young people with a number of important opportunities to experience positive ‘personal encounters’ with the police, resulting in a greater feeling of belonging and an increased stake in conformity.