The Met has been piloting the use of external training centres at Havering College, Essex, where police recruits have been trained in student classrooms.
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“With police officers going in and out of the college, there are real opportunities for transparency,” said Bennett.
“There is a hair salon where trainee hairdressers helped with mock shop crime,” he said. “They can tell the police officer how they felt when the officer dealt with them. It is engagement with the community.”