A group of young people from Wiltshire have shared their views on serious violence, hate crime and exploitation to support the police.

Wiltshire's Youth Commission, a group of 14-25 year olds, has released an annual report and a list of recommendations which will feed into policing and shape the region's Police and Crime Plan.

The Youth Commission was created to ensure young people could voice their opinions on issues affecting their lives.

The group has interacted with more than 1,400 of their peers in Wiltshire, identifying six key priorities and providing recommendations on areas such as police visibility, knife crime awareness and increasing police presence at community events.

Police and crime commissioner for Wiltshire and Swindon, Philip Wilkinson, said: "The work of the Youth Commission has been and will continue to be incredibly important to Wiltshire Police and my office.

Wiltshire and Swindon PCC Philip WilkinsonWiltshire and Swindon PCC Philip Wilkinson (Image: Newsquest)

"They helped me to select chief constable, Catherine Roper, as well as helping her to appoint a new deputy chief constable and new assistant chief constable."

He added: "After the outstanding presentations by the Young Commissioners at the 'Big Conversation' conference, we need to take their findings and recommendations and put them to good use to further improve how we interact with young people and children, and deal with crimes that matter to them."

The recommendations will help Wiltshire Police, the commissioner, and other agencies to improve their services and support for young people.

Wiltshire Police superintendent, Guy Elkins, said: "One of the main things I picked up from this was that young people share many of the concerns I do around knife crime, violence against women and girls, hate crime and the need to forge stronger relationships within our communities between younger people and the police.

“Through using their recommendations, it falls upon us, and our partners across a number of public agencies, to take their work forward and develop working strategies to build upon their good ideas.

“Their report gives us all a fresh perspective on how young people view crime and the police."

Several members of the Youth Commission shared their experiences. Nikhita described the commission as an "amazing experience".

She added: "Being part of this group has deepened my understanding of society and inspired me to advocate for positive changes."

Jack said he "thoroughly enjoyed the work and engagement that we young commissioners have experienced this year", while Joel valued the opportunities to present at conferences and workshops which "helped boost my confidence."