IT MIGHT not make you the next Leonardo DiCaprio or Kate Winslet – but budding actors are being given the chance to take on a role with a difference.

North Yorkshire Police is looking for volunteers to play their part in training schemes aimed at boosting community crime-fighting across the region.

That could mean them adopting the identities of drug dealers, drunks or vulnerable people to help student officers prepare themselves for the life as a police officer.

The sessions are trainees’ first chance, in their first 17 weeks as police officers, to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom. Scenarios at past training exercises have included someone who has lost a credit card, a victim of theft, and someone leaving a shop without paying for something, as well as traffic and drugs offenders.

The force is also looking for voluntary guest speakers who are expert on matters such as how to deal with those suffering with drugs or drink problems. A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said the scheme was all about helping equip trainee officers with how to deal with some of the situations faced in their posts.

“One of the key factors for the modernisation of the current training programme is community engagement,” she said. “By choosing local volunteers the student officers gain a keen insight into the needs of the communities they will be policing.”

Community engagement officer Jack Woodhams, who is running the scheme, said the idea was also to engage its student officers with the community by student officer placement, to “enhance the student officers’ understanding of other organisations, diverse communities and groups within their police area and the issues that affect them”.

Students will be taken out of their training environment into community locations to carry out role plays, including York’s city centre, York Designer Outlet, Brunswick Centre and Clifton Moor. The Initial Police Learning and Development Programme is based at the police headquarters in Newby Wiske, near Northallerton and anyone interested in helping with this training must be able to travel there.

Volunteers can be all ages and abilities, but those aged 18 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Anyone wanting to take part should phone Mr Woodhams on 07979700901 or email Jack.Woodhams@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk