Police officers in schools

Report: 14
Date: 13 March 2003
By: Commissioner

Summary

This report summarises the MPS contribution to the national Safer Schools Partnership (SSP).

A. Recommendation

Members are asked to note the report and support the continuing work taking place.

B. Supporting information

1. The Safer Schools Partnership (SSP) is part of a package of measures that have been developed jointly by The Department for Education and Skills, the Home Office, the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales, the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Chief Education Officers; the Secondary Heads’ Association and the National Association of Head Teachers.

2. The SSP bases police officers within schools on a full time basis to work in partnership with teachers, other education services and related agencies, and a full list of the schools that police officers work from is attached as Appendix 1. In effect the school and its immediate vicinity is the SSP officer’s beat. The over riding principle is that the officer works in partnership with other agencies. To this end, an administrative support worker and a project worker support each officer and relationships between respective agencies are regulated by protocols. The SSP will also assist to facilitate the Identification, Referral and Tracking Project (IRT). This aims to improve the way that different agencies work together to support vulnerable children.

3. The current SSP model has been developed from a number of pilot sites that existed both within and outside the MPS. In April 2002 the Street Crime Action Group directed that 10 force areas in England implement a programme for placing police officers in schools. Within the MPS the SSP is centred upon the 15 ‘Safer Streets’ boroughs. (The London Borough of Greenwich is also in the process of instigating a SSP).

4. The SSP complements MPA objectives and the aims of the MPS’ Youth Strategy document for 2003 – 2008. This strategy seeks to tackle many of the factors that contribute to youth offending. Lack of commitment to school and lost educational opportunity have been identified as being significant contributory factors for youth crime. SSPs present an ideal opportunity to address these issues.

Aims and objectives of the SSP

5. To reduce the prevalence of crime and victimisation amongst young people and to reduce the number of incidents and crimes in schools and their wider communities by:

• Working together to provide consistent and appropriate support and intervention to divert young people from social exclusion and criminality.
• Sharing information to identify those young people at risk of becoming victims or offenders as well as those who already are.

6. To provide a safe and secure school community that enhances the learning environment by:

• reducing the incidence of bullying and violent behaviour experienced by pupils and staff in the schools and wider community.
• reducing substance misuse in the school and wider community.
• developing crime prevention strategies to improve the physical well-being of the school and the personal safety of those who use it.
• developing a multi-agency approach to supporting teachers and other school staff in managing the learning environment.

7. To ensure that young people remain in education, actively learning and achieving their full potential by:

• developing strategies to improve attendance by addressing both authorised and unauthorised absence
• supporting vulnerable young people through transition, between phases in their education and other aspects of their lives
• raising attainment by ensuring a calm learning environment free from disruption.

8. To engage young people, challenging unacceptable behaviour, and help them develop a respect for themselves and their community by:

• developing a whole school approach to conflict resolution.
• ensuring that young people have opportunities to learn and develop citizenship skills.
• promoting the full participation of all young people in the life of the school and its wider community and decisions that directly affect them.

Number of officers involved

9. The MPS gave an undertaking to place 44 officers into schools across the 15 boroughs (30 by July 2002 and the remaining 14 by the end of the year). This target was met and subsequently exceeded. There are currently 60 MPS officers engaged in the SSP working in 78 schools. The MPS has made by far the largest contribution of any of the forces involved.

10. The process for placing officers was as inclusive as possible and aimed to meet the needs of all parties involved. Schools were identified through a process of auditing and assessing local information relating to youth offending. Reference was made to police crime data, crime and disorder partnership data and, where available, any surveys of victimisation and bullying undertaken by schools. The placement of officers within schools requires the full agreement of all the parties concerned. A full consultation process was undertaken in each case.

11. The relationship between various agencies is defined and regulated through protocols that have been developed jointly. These clarify such issues as the direction and management of the officer whilst on school premises and the respective areas of responsibility regarding enforcement of school discipline.

Evaluation process

12. The process is currently being evaluated, this will be completed in August 2003. The Policy Research Bureau has been commissioned by the Youth Justice Board to undertake this process. The evaluation will focus on the impact of the Partnership on reported crime and victimisation in the school and its immediate vicinity. It will also assess any identifiable impact on the level of exclusions and truancy. Young people within the schools evaluated will be consulted as part of the process.

13. Given the relatively recent introduction of the SSP it is difficult to determine to what extent it has impacted on youth offending and victimisation (many officers were not placed permanently within schools until the latter part of 2002). However information has been collated where it is available. The London Borough of Southwark offers some indication of the impact of SSPs. Violent crime, involving young people, in and around those schools where a police officer is based has fallen by 38% since the inception of the partnership. The same period has seen a reduction of 55% in the number of police assistance calls to those schools.

14. Additionally within the borough there has been a reduction in youth victimisation of 14% and the number of crimes involving youth suspects has reduced by 19%. Equally, the number of crimes involving both youth victims and suspects has reduced by 27%. These decreases have occurred since Southwark Borough first piloted their SSP in November 2001. Whilst these figures obviously have to be seen in the context of the numerous other activities being undertaken to tackle youth victimisation and offending, it is reasonable to attribute some of the impact to SSPs.

Training

15. It is recognised that officers working within schools will have to operate in a unique policing environment. In order to prepare them for this role, a training package has been developed and delivered by the University of Surrey. It is funded by the Youth Justice Board and has been delivered jointly to police officers and educationalists.

16. All the agencies involved in the SSP share a common concern that the presence of police officers within schools should not result in the criminalisation of young people. It is not the purpose of police officers engaged in this role to assume responsibility for the enforcement of school discipline. Consequently guidance has been issued to all SSP officers that reinforces this approach. It has been emphasised that schools should not report any incident as a crime that it would normally deal with by means of an internal procedure.

17. This approach will be complemented by the introduction of Restorative Justice conferencing within these schools. This process avoids the need for young people who have offended to enter the criminal justice system. Where minor offences are reported to police and these are admitted, a non-confrontational and managed meeting takes place between the perpetrator and victim. All police officers and some teachers within the SSP are to receive training in the delivery of Restorative Justice. This training is to be given by Thames Valley Police and is to be funded by the Youth Justice Board and will start to be delivered in March 2003.

Other points of interest.

18. A guidance document has been produced for practitioners (Safer Schools Partnership – Guidance) and is available upon request.

19. Finally it should be noted that prior to the commencement of the SSP that the MPS already had an active schools involvement policy. In the region of 180 officers were employed, and many continue to be employed in the delivery of the Schools Involvement Programme. This essentially centres on classroom delivery by police officers relating to the dangers of drug use and criminal behaviour.

C. Equality and diversity implications

1. The majority of SSP schools are located within those areas of the capital with higher than average visible minority ethnic populations. It is acknowledged that as a consequence there will be a disproportionately high number of people from visible minority ethnic backgrounds affected by its implementation. It is also acknowledged that the MPS is under represented in terms of staff from such backgrounds. However, all officers undertaking this role have received Community and Race Relations training and this has been complemented by subsequent training developed specifically for officers performing this role.

2. As mentioned above, the use of Restorative Justice Conferencing will enable those agencies engaged in the SSP to support the victims of crime while tackling offending behaviour without putting a disproportionate number of young people from minority backgrounds through the criminal justice process.

D. Financial implications

1. Many of the costs associated with the Safer Schools Partnership are not falling to the MPS. Training and the accommodation of officers within schools have been funded jointly by the Home Office and Youth Justice Board.

2. Officers employed in the Safer Schools Partnership = £2,072,340.

E. Background papers

Safer School Partnerships (guidance). Issued by Dept. of Education, and Skills, Home office, Youth Justice Board, ACPO, and Association of Chief Education Officers.

F. Contact details

Report author: Inspector Philip Burke, MPS.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1

Schools participating in the SSP

The schools listed below have either an officer posted exclusively to work within it or are part of a ‘family’ of schools policed by one or more officers.

* denotes that the school has a single officer based and working within it and its immediate vicinity.

Brent

• Wembley High
• John Kelly Boys
• Cardinal Hinsley RC High
• Queens Park Community

Camden

• Haverstock *
• Acland Burghley
• South Camden Community

Croydon

• Archbishop Llanfranc *

Ealing

• Villiers High
• Dormers Wells High
• Featherstone High
• Brentside High
• Acton High
• The Cardinal Wiseman Roman Catholic
• Compton High
• Greenford High
• Northolt High
• Drayton Mannor
• Elthorne Park High
• The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls
• Twyford Church of England High

Hackney

• Stoke Newington*
• Kingsland*
• Clapton Girls*
• Homerton*
• Haggerston*
• Hackney Free and Parochial*

Haringey

• Park View Academy*
• Northumberland Park*
• Alexandra Park and Hornsey Girls*
• Highgate Wood*
• Gladesmore Community*
• St David and St Katherines*
• White Hart Lane*

Islington

• St Aloysius*
• Highbury Grove*
• Islington Arts and Media*

Lambeth

• Lillian Baylis*
• Stockwell Park*
• Bishop Thomas Grant*

Lewisham

• Forest Hill Boys*
• St Joseph’s Academy*
• Crofton*
• Malory*

Newham

• Langdon Park
• Forest Gate Community
• St Angela’s
• Rokeby
• St Bonaventure’s
• Sarah Bonnell
• Lister Community
• Plashet
• Little Ilford
• Brampton Manor
• Tunmarsh
• Royal Docks Community
• Kingsland Community
• Cumberland
• Eastlea Community
• Stratford
• Newham V1 Form

Southwark

• Archbishop Michael Ramsey*
• Alwins Girls*
• Walworth*

Tower Hamlets

• Tower Hamlets College*
• George Green*
• St Paul’s Way
• Langdon Park
• Bethnal Green Technical College

Wandsworth

• Chestnut Grove*

Waltham Forest

• Tom Hood *
• Leytonstone*
• McEntee*

Westminster

• St Augustine’s*
• St George’s*
• North Westminster Upper*
• North Westminster Middle*
• North Westminster Lower*

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