We went to see Cressida Dick at New Scotland Yard. We took
the train from Hammersmith to Westminster; it was quick. We all met at
Hammersmith to take the District Line. When we left the tube station there was
a man playing the steal drums.
It was near the river in Westminster – there was a
good view, we could see Big Ben, parliament, the army, Downing Street and the
river boats, and the London Eye. When we arrived we were early so we sat by the
river and looked at the London Eye and the Westminster Pier.
Cressida Dick is the commissioner of the Metropolitan
Police, she told us that there were 40,000 people in the Met police.
When we first got to the place we had to go through
security. We had to put all our bags, walking sticks, change, keys, mobiles in
a tray and they went through an x-ray scanner, everything went through the
scanner except us. Then they gave us some nice cups of tea and coffee but no
biscuits.
When she came in the room we stood up and she told us to sit
down. We all introduced ourselves and she was talking to the police officers
that we trained. Cressida Dick asked them how the training course was and what
work they did with us at The Gate. We were invited because they wanted to know
more about our police training. We train the police to know how to be better at
interviewing people with learning disabilities and giving them the right
support.
The officers said that the training with us was useful and
interesting – they said they learned a lot in the days with us. When we have
our interviews we give them feedback on what they did well and what they could
do better.
Darren ended up talking about a dog being rude. We told her
about what happens at The Gate. Labake sung a song about ending knife crime
which Cressida Dick thought was very good.
We looked around the building a lot and took some
photographs on the balcony. All the tall people stood at the back and the rest
of us at the front. After that she said thank you and she disappeared. I wonder
where she went. Later she said she was being a judge at the Pride of Britain
awards. We talked about a film we made about the Fiona Pilkington case and the
fact that we’ve been training the police since 2006. After we took pictures on
the balcony they showed us some of the empty rooms and then we sat down again.
The lifts were very cool.
Leon, Mandy, Labake..
