Liberal Democrat MP Calls For More Police Officers In London Schools
Metropolitan Police community support officers with Big Ben beyond on a blue sky spring day in Westminster London England UK
4 min read
The Liberal Democrat spokesperson for London Luke Taylor has called for more police officers in schools across the capital after an uptick in knife crime.
14-year-old Kelyan Bokassa, 15-year-old Pharell Garica and 16-year-old Rennell Charles are just a handful of the teenagers who have died as a result of knife crime in the last few years.
The most recent case saw 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose stabbed at his school in Sheffield earlier this month.
These cases, along with 18-year-old Axel Rudakubana who was jailed for life after pleading guilty to the murder of three girls in Southport in July last year, have seen the government step up its response in recent months.
Zombie-style knives and machetes were banned last year, and the government launched a coalition to tackle knife crime and stop young people becoming involved in violent gangs.
However, some MPs still think that there is more to be done to prevent violent crime from becoming commonplace, not just in London but across the country.
For Taylor, the Liberal Democrat MP for Sutton and Cheam in south London, having more police officers in schools will help pupils "feel safe".
Speaking to PoliticsHome after leading a Westminster Hall debate about the issue this week, Taylor argued that having officers in schools was not tantamount to accepting knife crime as something we are going to have to live with.
He said we must “get away from this perception that if you are talking about officers in schools, you are almost accepting there's a problem".
According to the most up-to-date figures in July 2023, the Metropolitan Police Service had 311 police officers working full-time in the capital.
Safer School Officers (SSOs), which were introduced through the Safer School Partnerships programme in 2002 under Tony Blair’s Labour government, help to ensure a safe environment for all pupils and staff, as well as providing advice.
While some have called for the deployment of more SSOs, concerns have also been raised around the impact of a police presence on young people in school settings, especially for ethnic minority pupils.
These fears were highlighted in the high-profile case of Child Q, a 15-year-old girl who was strip-searched on her period by a police officer after being wrongly accused of possessing drugs.
While the police officer in question was not an SSO, the concerns around trust remain.
Taylor said that the action of a single officer in the "horrific case" of Child Q should not be used to "torpedo what is, in reality, a very helpful, very successful role and scheme program".
He said: "It all comes together with there being enough police officers to then be able to talk to communities, become trusted and supported in the communities, and then that leads to better accountability."
Labour MP and chair of the education select committee Helen Hayes told PoliticsHome that stricter security in schools “may be an option that headteachers, and indeed parents, may see as necessary to keep pupils safe”.
Education committee chair Helen Hayes (Alamy)
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said she backs the use of metal detectors in schools that feel they are necessary to keep pupils safe.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Hayes said that while stepping up security is an option, “the root causes of knife crime need to be identified and treated in a holistic way, with the help of schools, social services, police, community organisations and health partners”.
Hayes said: "Knife crime escalated during the last 14 years and is now a scourge on too many communities across the country.
"The causes are multi-faceted and complicated, but cuts to a wide range of public services have undoubtedly made things much worse in many communities. Every death and serious injury from knife crime is devastating, both for the family and friends of the victim and the wider community."
Hayes said that in her constituency Dulwich and West Norwood in south London, she has seen “areas of high need, but also examples of good practice which need to be funded to be rolled out more widely”.
She mentioned the work funded by the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit, which strives to prevent and reduce violence in the city, but added, “there is much more to do.”
A government spokesperson told PoliticsHome: “Violent incidents in schools are rare, but all schools should be places of safety and learning.
“The government is committed to halving knife crime over the next decade, and we have already banned zombie-style knives, are progressing a ban on ninja swords and bringing in stronger age verification checks for the sale of knives online.
“To further protect vulnerable young people who are too often the victims or perpetrators of these crimes, our Young Futures Programme will identify and support at-risk young people, and we are investing in specialist support in the areas where serious violence most impacts children.”
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