BRIDGE BUILDERS
PAST EVENTS

BUDDHISTS MEET THE MET

In the first Meet the Met of autumn 2009, youngsters met with six Newham police officers in Plaistow at the East London Buddhist Cultural Centre. A core issue was the reluctance of young people to approach police officers in public for fear of retribution by other youngsters and the possible reaction of the police themselves

The 90-minute discussion also dealt with knife crime, stop-and-search and complaints that under-16s smoking in public often go unchallenged by the police who have the right to confiscate cigarettes and prosecute those that sell them to children. Interestingly, it emerged that park-keepers also have the power to confiscate cigarettes from under-age-smokers.

The session, which did much to reassure the young Buddhist, was organised by Bridge Builders In Unity and the host for the evening, Ven. Mangala of the Buddhist Centre.