Kids can book in to read police tale
Libraries will stock DC’s story
A colourful kids book written by a Renfrewshire detective to highlight the work of the police will be made available in libraries and children’s wa rds across the country.
Detective Constable Stewart Fleming penned ‘My Police’ to give nu r s e r y aged c h i l d ren an understanding of what officers do to protect members of the public in a fun, engaging way.
The 34-year-old, who works in the region’s Public Protection Unit, created the book which follows Ben and his friends as they learn all about the force with the backing of Police Scotland’s Local Partnership and Initiative F Fund.
It aims to create p positive p police m messages an and was in initially go going to be pl placed in nu r s e r i e s ac across Ren Renfrewshire.
B But after an over overwhelming res response, it will now be rolled out to libraries and kids wards around the country.
Detective Constable Fleming, who worked with Staci Jo Rowlison a lecturer at Stirling University on the project, was delighted with the feedback.
He said: “Thanks to the amazing response on social media over the last few weeks we are delighted to announce that our ‘My Police’ book will soon be available in every library across Scotland.
“Read For Good have also given us a fantastic opportunity to provide copies of the book to children’s hospital wards across the UK as well as in their Readathon kits for schools UK wide.
“We hope sometime in the future some of our ‘My Police’ team will be able to visit hospitals and share the story with the children.
“We are still working on ways of getting books to as many children as possible.”
The book was inspired by DC Fleming’s two sons, aged seven and five, and takes the young reader through all the area’s police officers work to keep people safe.
It explains the equipment, or ‘gadgets’ as they are known in the book, that police officers use while working all in a fun and colourful way.
DC Fleming added: “There is a page about how some officers dress in uniform, some in suits and some in plain clothes, as well as explaining some of the kit, or ‘gadgets’ as we call them, that officers carry, like the radio and baseball caps.
“I tried to give a modern take on the police and update it for the younger generation.
“I didn’t really see anything else like it out there and thought there seemed to be a gap for something like this.”