Behind the Badge: ‘Having the opportunity to support our teenagers and see the positive results is great’.

Dagenham Schools Officer and Cadets co-ordinator PC Pickering has made a fantastic positive impact on local youths.

PC Sean Pickering is the Schools Officer for Robert Clack and All Saints school in Dagenham. He is also the deputy co-ordinator of the police cadets across the Dagenham area, supporting teenagers.

Having joined the police in 2003, PC Pickering joined to make a difference in our community and to help people across London.

He told the Havering Daily:

“I was a doorman in a nightclub and I realised that I actually enjoyed helping people. I was always interested in joining the police but it wasn’t until a colleague said it to me that I should join, that I actually made the phone call and began the application process.”

Since then, PC Pickering has not looked back, enjoying a diverse career including working at Stanstead airport as a firearms officer and now, making an even bigger impact by working with our youth.

“I joined East Area in June 2020 and really enjoy working with the local police cadets. It is great to have the opportunity to help our youth. When they come to the cadets, many often come from troubled back grounds so we are able to provide them with a lot of positives to be able to help them go forward.

“It is great team work and we do many exciting ventures such as the Duke of Edinburgh Awards and local and national events.

“It is very rewarding to see the impacts you can have on them and to see them do well. Some come back and become volunteer instructors and some even go on to join the police.

“The cadets are a big part of my life so it really it is great when you get positive feedback from the teenagers and their parents.”

Covid made a huge impact on our society and this included our police officers.

PC Pickering shared with us just how hard it was for him on a personal level.

“My mum had been diagnosed with cancer, because of the job I do and the amount of people we meet, I was not allowed to visit her throughout this period, so that really was hard for me. Luckily she is okay now.”

Police officers are people like the rest us behind that uniform, something many fail to see or chose to see when dealing with them.

PC Pickering does amazing work with our youth everyday that is much needed in our society.

Well done PC Pickering!