Police to hold special Q&A session for children worried about COVID-19 lockdown

Police officers leading the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northamptonshire are planning to hold a special Facebook Live Q&A session for children on Thursday, April 30, at 4.30pm.

Since the country was locked down over a month ago, the Force has been holding weekly live Q&A sessions on Facebook which have given people of all ages an opportunity to engage with their local police officers and ask questions about the COVID-19 policing operation.

The sessions, fronted by Chief Constable Nick Adderley and Superintendents Sarah Johnson and Elliot Foskett, have proven popular with users of the social media platform, with thousands of people tuning in at a time and lots of questions posed to the officers live.

Now the Force is turning its attention specifically to children and ACC Simon Blatchly and Superintendents Johnson and Foskett will hold a one-off session this Thursday to give young people worried about the lockdown an opportunity to air their concerns and ask their local police force a question.

Superintendent Sarah Johnson, said: “Our live Facebook Q&As have proven popular with the local community and I think that’s because they’re unscripted - people can pose questions live, we don’t know what questions are coming, and I think that brings a level of authenticity to the process which the public in Northamptonshire have appreciated. We want to be accessible, approachable and willing to give the public the interaction they deserve and these sessions have been a great way for is to do that.

“This is a strange time for everyone at the moment as so much has changed in our day-to-day lives and this level of change can be quite scary for children who can’t go to nursery or school, play outside with their friends, or visit their grandparents. 

“We recognise this and hope that a Q&A session with their local police officers may go some way in relieving any anxiety they may be feeling.

“If your child has a question, please join us at 4.30pm on Facebook on Thursday, or if you can’t make it - please submit your question to us in advance by emailing your child’s name, age and their question to [email protected].

“Although this session will focus on the lockdown, we are very much willing to answer other burning questions about the police your children may have – whether that’s how the blue lights work on our cars or how many police dogs we have – we’re happy to take questions on anything that will help your child feel connected to their local police officers.”