Volunteer Police Cadets

The Police Cadet scheme aims to give young people between the ages of 13 and 17 years the opportunity to develop their qualities and skills through a structured programme and to enhance the relationship between the public and police.

Dyfed-Powys Volunteer Police Cadets come from all of our diverse communities, irrespective of their background or financial circumstances, and including those vulnerable to crime or social exclusion.

The Volunteer Police Cadet programme offers a fantastic variety of opportunities to the young people involved.

Cadets will:

• be led by Volunteer Police Cadet Leaders who are Police Officers, Police Staff and Police Support Volunteers.
• learn about the law and the specialist police departments as well as taking part in drill and inspections. 
• take part in Neighbourhood Policing and Prevention initiatives, plus community activities and events.

The aim is to prepare young people for their future by providing varied activities and opportunities to develop and enhance inter-personal skills and confidence, while achieving a sense of pride through supporting community policing.

While Dyfed-Powys Volunteer Police Cadets is part of the national movement, we manage our own risk in relation to the safety of our Cadets and Leaders. We expect all our Police Officers, Police Staff and Police Support Volunteers who support Cadet units, to uphold the highest standards in child safeguarding, protection and supervision. As part of this, all Leaders are vetted prior to being able to participate and support cadet unit activities as well as enhanced DBS checks.

Dyfed-Powys Police follow the national safeguarding framework that has been agreed by the National Police Chiefs' Council and all Chief Constables have signed up to adopting this. It offers a streamlined and consistent approach to the reporting and managing of safeguarding concerns, the recruitment of Leaders, training, organising activities and beyond. This ensures that everyone involved in VPC knows what is expected of them at a local and national level and that confidential reporting and investigation is done in a consistent manner.

We work alongside the National Safeguarding Manager who is responsible for maintaining contact with police forces about this critical responsibility and about the standards and codes of conduct expected at a national level so that we can continue to work towards providing the safest and highest level of standards of youth safeguarding available nationally.

If you or anyone you know has any concerns about the safety of anyone involved in the Volunteer Police Cadets please report it.

If someone is in immediate danger, the police should be contacted on 999.

Alternatively, if there is no immediate danger / threat you can report any concerns you may have about a Cadet or a Cadet Leader by emailing:

• [email protected]
• Volunteer Police Cadets National Safeguarding Manager (office hours only)
• Dyfed Powys Police Cadet Officer (office hours only) 
• Dyfed Powys VPC Safeguarding Officer (office hours only) 

Other points of contact:

• NSPCC helpline 08080 800 5000 or e-mail [email protected]
• Childline helpline 0800 1111
• The Independent Office for Police Conduct 0300 020 0096 or [email protected]

Cadet session are held at the following locations during term time only.

Additional activities may be arranged during school holidays.  

Brecon – Thursday evening 6-8pm

Newtown – Wednesday evening 6.30-8.30pm

Carmarthen – Thursday evening 6-8pm

Ammanford – Thursday evening 6–8 pm 

Llanelli – Thursday evening 6-8pm

Pembroke Dock – Wednesday evening 6.30-8.30pm

All Volunteer Police Cadets will be issued with a free Cadet uniform including boots.

Full details will be provided upon joining.

To apply to join the Volunteer Police Cadets you will need to be between 13 - 17 years of age.

Cadets at 18 years old must leave the programme but can apply to become a Volunteer Police Cadet Leader within a different VPC unit.

If you are older than 18 you can also volunteer to be a Cadet Leader 

No charge will be made for joining the Volunteer Police Cadets.

• Any young person will be considered for the Cadets. 
• No vetting or background checks are conducted on any Cadet wishing to join.
• Our Volunteer Police Cadets represent Dyfed-Powys Police therefore it is a requirement that each Cadet demonstrates high standards of behaviour and adheres to the Code of Conduct.   

Cadet meetings are held weekly and it is expected that you attend all sessions. However, we understand that education commitments come first. 

You may also be asked to attend activities and events outside of the regular meetings and attendance is highly recommended.

The Volunteer Police Cadet programme will give you an insight into policing and will help you to make career choices. However, membership is not a guaranteed route to becoming a police officer or any other employment within a police service.

Our programme is open to all young people regardless of their career ambitions or capabilities. You can join the Cadets even if you do not wish to pursue a future career in policing.

Dyfed-Powys Police is proud to serve the people who live in, work in and visit the area. We aim to provide a high standard of service which everyone can use and is fair to all. We also provide a service which encourages positive attitudes and removes discrimination. 

You can visit our Positive Action Page here 

We are a fully inclusive uniformed youth group welcoming Cadets from any social, economic, ethnic group, gender, ability or disability. We actively encourage young people who may feel disadvantaged through crime or social exclusion to join the VPC.

Volunteer Police Cadets take part in a wide variety of activities relevant to their ability and age for which you will be asked to complete a Health and Permission form, ensuring that their unit is fully up to date with any health related issues. A Health and Permission form will need to be completed for every event.

All personal details are held under nationally recognised security conditions and are not shared with organisations outside the police service.

Read our safeguarding policy for information on how we will look after your young people while they are with us.

If you have any concerns about a Cadet or a Cadet Leader you can raise them using the contact details outlined above. Anyone can use this process: parent, Cadet, Cadet Leader or member of the public.   

It doesn’t matter how small an issue may seem, or who the Leader or Cadet is, we would encourage you to get in contact to make us aware of the situation. 

It’s important that people feel they can raise concerns, regardless of who they are against, as this helps us maintain a safe environment for Cadets. If you see or experience something you are not happy with, please report it.