In new survey data released today, Caroline Russell shined a spotlight on Londoners’ growing concerns over the number of Met Police Officers in schools.
In the new data, YouGov’s December 2023 polling shows that only 30 per cent of respondents think that Met Police Officers should be stationed in secondary schools, while 55 per cent of respondents think there should not be. This compares to 75 per cent who think there should be specialist youth workers in schools, as per the same polling.
Russell, who is Chair of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, emphasised how questions have been raised for years with the Mayor on the need ascertain the numbers and practices of these officers, a program sanitised under the name “Safer Schools Officers.” [1]
Responding to the new polling, Green Party London Assembly Member Caroline Russell said:
“Schools should be a space for learning and growth, not policing and fear.
“On top of the daily problems we know occur when you station Met officers in schools, the publicity of incidents like Child Q should give every Londoner pause to think what else could be going on, unreported, given the vast power imbalance between police officers and children.
“This new data should serve as an urgent reminder to the Mayor: Londoners do not accept the status quo when it comes to policing children in our schools.”
Notes to editors
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,137 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 15th - 21st December 2023. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults in London (aged 18+). Find a complete set of questions included in the survey.
Child Q refers to a 15-year-old black schoolgirl who was strip-searched while at school, without her parents' consent, after wrongly being suspected of carrying cannabis. Find more information on the case.