Concerns raised over role of Met Police in schools

The Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime says there is support for Safer Schools Officers (SSOs)

Concerns have been raised about the role of police officers in some of London's secondary schools.

Caroline Russell, a Green member of the London Assembly, said she was worried about police being used to discipline pupils.

Dame Lynne Owens, deputy commissioner of the Met Police, said the force needed to be clearer with schools about what officers were there for.

City Hall said there was support for Safer Schools Officers (SSOs).

Ms Russell told a meeting of City Hall's police and crime committee last week: "People have said to me that they feel that police in schools are being used almost to pick up disciplinary matters, rather than taking that broader approach to looking at what's happening within the community and potentially signposting people to other groups and organisations around the Met."

She added there was "a lot of concern about police in schools actually getting some young people connected into the criminal justice system", rather than deterring crime.

Ms Owens said the Met needed to be "explicit" that its officers did not deal with disciplinary issues.

'Criminalise children'

"If we step into that space there is a very real risk we criminalise children that we wouldn't have encountered on the streets in that way," she said.

She also said she wanted to see SSOs better linked up with Safer Neighbourhood Teams to help tackle incidents such as violence or bullying outside school gates.

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Ms Russell referred to a report from race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust, which called for SSOs to be withdrawn from schools, as "their presence disproportionately impacts Black and minority ethnic communities and fails to support a safer school environment", and she asked staff at City Hall whether they agreed with that finding.

Diana Luchford CB, chief executive of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime, said about 93% of Londoners supported SSOs in schools, according to their surveys.

"[Among] young people who were aware of their Safer Schools Officer, 41% believe the officer made them feel more safe at school, while only 3% felt they made them less safe."

Sophie Linden, London's Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, said a forthcoming City Hall report on SSOs would recommend improved collection of ethnicity data and the creation of a performance framework for SSOs.

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