Kearsley: New Bolton police officers visit Buddhist temple

The six newly minted officers were escorted around the Wat Sri Ratanaram Buddhist Temple in Kearsley by Abbot PK Paganon Buddimethi and Cllr Paul Heslop.

The officers are straight out of Greater Manchester Police’s College of Policing and Cllr Heslop hopes events like these will help introduce them to the diverse communities they have been recruited to serve.

The officers and Cllr Paul Heslop were shown around by Abbot PK (Image: Cllr Paul Heslop)

He said: “This is my third meeting with officers this week all of varying ranks.

“It was great to see residents of Kearsley come along to the police surgery at the Roosevelt Road Community Centre when resident’s concerns were raised with the attendant police officers.

“On Friday, there was a meeting with the Chief Constable of GMP and [Greater Manchester] mayor Andy Burnham which focussed on progress and challenges for the force.

“Finally, today’s meeting with the newly-qualified officers was an ideal opportunity to discuss the important issue of interaction between police and local councillors.”

Abbot PK taught the officers about the Buddhist faith (Image: Cllr Paul Heslop)The six new officers will work alongside the Bolton division for the next six months and focus on neighbourhood policing.

Cllr Heslop said: “Although we in Kearsley would have welcomed an additional officer from the new recruits there was no promise, we’ll have to wait and see.”   

The new recruits, along with Sergeant Craig Wallace and Cllr Heslop met with Abbot PK Paganon Buddimethi, known as Abbot PK, who invited them to join him in five minutes of simple meditation.

The new officers were escorted around the grounds by Abbot PK (Image: Cllr Paul Heslop)

They were then escorted around the grounds and talked with the Abbot about Buddhism and his role within the faith.

Abbot PK told the officers to the officers about the history and practises of Buddhism along with his belief in promoting interfaith harmony and mutual respect. 

The officers were taught about the history and practises of Buddhism (Image: Cllr Paul Heslop)

Cllr Heslop hopes to be able to build a stronger relationship with police officers in his area with visits like these.

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He said: “There are future Police surgeries penned in the diary and this will extend to all of Kearsley and the three villages of Stoneclough, Prestolee and Ringley.

“The good thing about these surgeries is that the issue is often multi-agency and there is a collective will to deal with the issues that are brought by residents.”