Brixington Beaver Scouts were visited by police community support officer Chris Ball to create links between the force and community

Brixington youngsters learned about the importance of police fingerprinting in a bid to forge positive links between the force and community.

Police Community Support Officer Chris Ball recently gave the Beaver Scout group a short talk on the work of the force and how fingerprinting aids police enquiries.

PCSO Ball said the aim of the talk was to encourage youngsters to talk to the police without any fear.

He said: “Engagement of this kind enables youngsters to talk to the police in a relaxed setting and, hopefully, to build a positive rapport to prevent them from getting caught up in criminal behaviour as they become teenagers.

“It always helps if youngsters feel they can openly talk to me, as and when they see me out and about in Brixington, and are not scared of the police knowing who they are and what they are up to.

“From experience, it’s the youngsters that I know who behave, and the ones that I don’t - who don’t.”