A film produced by pupils from Wiltshire College’s Trowbridge campus will be shown to youngsters across the county to highlight the dangers of carrying weapons and imitations.
The piece was a winner of a competition launched by the Wiltshire Police’s Firearms and Knife Education (FAKE) team, in September, which saw the centre’s BTEC TV and film students asked to create warning videos.
The winning entry was produced by Chris Deakin, Luke Waitman and Pearl Neilson.
Last month, armed response officers visited the students to take part in the film, and Luke, 18, from Trowbridge said: “This experience has been incredible, a fantastic opportunity to put my skills into practice as part of a professional project – from organising the venue to arranging the shots and liaising with Wiltshire Police.”
The group’s piece was filmed at the derelict former Bowyers factory, in Trowbridge, and featured imitation firearms borrowed from the police as well as two squad cars.
PC Kevin Harmsworth, FAKE project leader, said: “The project has been a great opportunity to engage with the students and develop a strong partnership.
“For a lot of people, their first experience with the police is because something bad has happened or they have done something wrong, so it is fantastic to spend time with young people from our community in a positive way.”
The video will be used in the new year, as part of FAKE’s educational presentations which they give to schools and youth centres across Wiltshire.
Since launching in 2011, the FAKE team has delivered workshops to young people from across Wiltshire and Swindon and has contributed to a 53 per cent drop in the number of arrests of under-18s involving weapons and firearms.
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