Overview
- Met representatives told the London Assembly there is no clear evidence that stationing officers in schools improves safety and said ex‑school officers now serve as youth specialists in ward teams.
- Ark Walworth Academy principal Jessica West called the removal of Safer Schools Officers the single most catastrophic decision of her decade in safeguarding during testimony to the committee.
- West described the loss of routine information‑sharing with schools, citing a case where staff visited a truant’s home unaware he had been charged and bailed over an attempted murder involving a blade.
- Pupils interviewed by Sky News said they fear more knives and drugs entering schools, while youth workers argued regular contact with familiar officers helps trust and disclosure.
- The redeployment forms part of a wider restructuring set against a reported £260m shortfall and 1,700 staff reductions, though the Met said the 371 posts were transferred rather than cut to refocus policing.