Police defend big jump in officers in UK schools

Police chiefs person defended a 43% year-on-year emergence successful the fig of officers based successful UK schools.

The Runnymede Trust contention equality deliberation vessel recovered 979 Safer Schools Officers (SSOs) successful schools past spring, compared with 683 successful 2021.

It recovered SSOs are much apt to beryllium based successful schools with higher numbers of children connected escaped schoolhouse meals, often with higher numbers of achromatic pupils.

But the National Police Chiefs' Council says SSOs play an indispensable role.

Children from taste number groups are up to 3 times much apt to beryllium strip-searched by constabulary aft an apprehension than achromatic children, according to Met Police data.

Police officers person worked successful schools for decades and were formally introduced successful the Safer Schools Partnership programme successful 2002.

The programme is thing schools tin take to motion up to. Depending what schools inquire for, SSOs mightiness connection assemblies, workshops oregon supply drop-in sessions for pupils.

But immoderate campaigners and assemblage leaders are disquieted SSOs are doing much harm than good.

Dr Shabna Begum, caput of probe astatine the Runnymede Trust, is acrophobic schools could beryllium leaning excessively heavy connected constabulary to benignant retired "quite trivial" behavioural oregon pastoral problems that should beryllium dealt with by teaching staff.

If this is happening, achromatic children whitethorn look harsher consequences - creating a pathway to the transgression justness system.

But Metropolitan Police Commander Catherine Roper, NPCC pb for children and young people, says the relation of SSOs is vital.

"It's an accidental to enactment with children and young persons successful a unafraid environment, to physique up that spot and confidence, commencement those conversations, to physique up that rapport," she said.

She says SSOs tin assistance to enactment children who mightiness beryllium susceptible to exploitation, specified arsenic region lines drugs operations.

Cdr Roper has seen pupils talk to SSOs if they were frightened oregon disquieted astir thing that they did not consciousness they could speech to their families about.

"[SSOs] being successful and astir schools is to assistance children and young persons to consciousness safe," she says.

I went to conscionable a 16-year-old miss and her mum astatine their location successful London to speech astir her "frightening" and "isolating" acquisition involving police.

Jorja (not her existent name) was arrested astatine schoolhouse erstwhile she was 14.

Officers came to her schoolhouse and arrested her connected suspicion of grievous bodily harm, aft she tried to propulsion a miss distant from a fight. Another miss was aboriginal charged and convicted of assault.

Jorja spent 10 hours locked successful a constabulary cell.

"It was weird due to the fact that I was the lone pistillate successful the van and they were [grown-ups]," she said.

"I felt rather helpless that adjacent my mum couldn't instrumentality maine to the constabulary station. I felt similar I was being incriminated erstwhile I didn't bash anything."

Jorja's mum says she was terrified erstwhile she turned up aft the schoolhouse had called her.

"She was successful a room, locked successful a room. They took disconnected her overgarment and went into her pockets. They had connected gloves," she said.

"It was a shock. She's lasting determination crying and there's thing I could do."

Jorja was kept connected bail for 4 months and was not allowed to be schoolhouse during that time, which caused her to autumn behind.

No further enactment was taken against Jorja by the Metropolitan Police and she is present studying for her A-Levels astatine a antithetic school.

We asked her erstwhile schoolhouse for much details but they declined to comment. It is unclear whether oregon not the schoolhouse had an SSO successful place.

Former societal idiosyncratic Imani Mclean, from Birmingham, works arsenic a assemblage advocator for families. She says immoderate schools thin excessively overmuch connected the constabulary unnecessarily.

"Many of the young radical that I woody with already person a fearfulness of the constabulary due to the fact that they consciousness that they are discriminated against and don't judge the constabulary are fair," she says.

"There needs to beryllium dialog successful presumption of erstwhile you usage the constabulary and however they travel into schools."

The Runnymede Trust is calling for the removal of each SSOs and for the authorities to put much backing successful schoolhouse wellbeing services.

The authorities says the deployment of officers successful schools is an operational determination for constabulary forces and a substance for idiosyncratic schools.

The Department of Education besides says a caller concern of a further £10m successful 2022/23 volition assistance up to 8,000 schools and colleges beforehand and enactment the intelligence wellness and wellbeing of each pupils.