In the second half of March 2026, I participated in an educational programme called the Junior Detectives Programme. In collaboration with various secondary schools in Leeds, the West Yorkshire Police, and the School of Education at the University of Leeds, the programme consisted of Detectives in a Day, as well as Junior Detectives Week. The aim of this programme was to enlighten the youth about the realities of crime, how it can impact victims, as well as to allow them to understand the inner workings of law enforcement.
As a Media Volunteer for this programme, I was tasked with production of multimedia material, both videos and photos, which would be used on social media and as a form of documenting the entire event.
Many photographs were taken during the programme. These were taken in different events within the programmes, such as talks and conferences, crime scene investigations, interviews with victims and witnesses, and so on. They were also featured on social media, including LinkedIn. Here are a few of my favourites.
Many of these photographs were compiled into a video that summarised the entire event. This would act as promotion for the event in the future as this is a cyclical one being organised every semester at the university. Therefore, this video was created with garnering the interest of schools and parents in mind.
I really enjoyed this opportunity for many reasons. Firstly I was able to produce media in real time during activities that were fast paced. Secondly, throughout the event I was able to learn about how knife crime is investigated. Despite not being an active participant of the activities, I learned to appreciate how important it is for young people to be educated about issues that affect all of us. Thirdly, especially when producing the promotional video, I understood why media is so important in communicating important values and messages, as well as in providing entertainment and provoking interest in them.
One life, no knives.