How safe do young people feel around the police? Children's Express reporters investigate.
Shona, 9, Cowgate
I don't think about the police much but they do their job right. I feel as safe around a police officer like I would around any other person. They are no different to anybody else. The police speak to me like a child because they don't act the same way they do around adults. The police think that every teenager or young person is bad. I don't know my rights if I needed them in a police station.
I do think that they help you sometimes. If somebody had done something wrong and they had the wrong person then they could do something to the wrong person. There are enough police on the beat. Its burglary that the police deal with the most. I think that American police set an example because it is a bigger country and the police have more power and the uniforms are different to. The British police should carry guns in case anything happens.
Jade Henderson, 15, Kenton
Sometimes the police are good when they are saving people but mostly they can be nasty. The police abuse their power because they think they can do anything and slap you in the street and ask you questions like have you got drink on you and I don't think they have a right to do that.
They don't make me feel very safe because you never see them and if you do they are driving around in cars. They speak to adults much more politely then they do to children. If they stop me in the street I feel victimised. If I were in a police station I wouldn't say a thing unless there was an adult there. I don't think there are enough police on the beat because I never see any.
Hailey Hall, 10, Newcastle
The police are helpful but they speak to me like a child. They don't do enough for young people though, I don't know why. If I were in a police station I would not know my rights. I don't know of anything really bad about the police. The police help people. I don't think there is much difference between the British and American police but we should carry guns.
Lisa Williams, 14, Walker
I have been pulled once by the police for no reason. They think they are better than anyone else by acting hard. They don't make me feel safe. The good things about them are that they stop vandalism but they also get on your nerves and nick people for no reason.
There are definitely not enough police on the streets. It's probably burglary that they deal with the most and people setting skips on fire. British police are not so tough yet in America you can get life for murder when over here you don't have to do half the time. Sometimes the police should carry guns, but it depends.
Scott O'Brien, 12, Blakelaw
I think the police are horrible and abuse their power. They think they can do anything, which they cannot and I don't feel very safe. If they were quicker getting to places where they were needed then that would help. They don't do enough for young people because they just don't care. They drive around thinking they are hard and stop you for no reason. Its robberies and shoplifting by smackheads that they deal with the most.
Kerrie Lee, 18, Kenton
The police think that because they wear uniforms they can do what the hell they like. One minute they will be really nice and the next they are lifting you for absolutely nothing. They think they don't have to speak to us as equals because they have the uniform, the power and they look down on us.
If you come from an estate they assume certain things which are not true. They victimise me because my family has a police record and they think that I will be trouble. They spend too much time dealing with little kids that are sat on street corners talking to their friends.
Liam Caine, 10, Cowgate
I think the police are canny good. They make me feel very safe. They never pick on me. It's the police that help you when you need them like if I got into a fight. I don't think there is anything bad about them although there doesn't seem to be many around. The police deal with serious issues. I think they should carry guns
About the teamInterviews by Gavin Mather, 13. Junior Jury is a weekly column published in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
