Facebook Live session for children with special appearances from PDs Socks and Nala

Since the Covid-19 pandemic started just under a year ago, the Force has held 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 Superintendent 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 Chief Constable Adderley and Superintendent Foskett will hold a one-off session next Wednesday to give young people worried about the lockdown an opportunity to air their concerns and ask their local police force a question.

 

They will then have the opportunity to meet two of the Force’s police dogs – PD Socks and PD Nala, who have both agreed to come in on their rest days, as long as we give them a treat or two.

 

Our live Facebook Q&As have proven popular with the local community because they’re unscripted - people can pose questions live, we don’t know what questions are coming, and we 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 - 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.

 

It is also a great opportunity for the children to meet two of our police dogs.

If your child has a question, please join us at 4pm on Facebook next Wednesday, 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, why we don’t have police cats as well as police dogs, or how Chief Constable Nick Adderley still catches the "baddies" in his police car – we’re happy to take questions on anything that will help your child feel connected to their local police officers.”