This involved visiting hotspots with the community bus which contained relevant information about the communities rights, local initiatives that they can become involved in and relevant contacts for their area.
Members of the younger community were invited onto the bus to have a discussion about violent crime and drugs. The young people were asked their views on this and what they could do to stem the flow of violence and the use of drugs. This part of the initiative was very popular and gave the young people an opportunity to voice their opinions amongst their peer groups, with police staff and police officers. Each person left the discussion with a thought as to how they could contribute to making their areas and themselves safer.
The community bus also allowed members of the community to talk about any issues that were affecting them within their area, pass on local intelligence and discuss possible solutions to the problems that were affecting their area. Each year there was an increase in the amount of visitors to the bus and the need to have their voices heard in a safe and comfortable environment.
The community bus are organised in partnership with the local borough. It was vital that the local borough became involved, as they were able to meet the community that they were serving and to act upon the intelligence that they received on the day. Each borough provided staff to work on the bus for the day. Members of the community wanted to have the bus in their borough on a more regular basis and they felt that it was a deterrent for local crime.