CYP Now – Met Police launches strategy to improve policing for children

The strategy for childrentwo years in the making, it sets out 36 commitments for policing, including improving training for tens of thousands of officers on topics including tackling child maturation, safeguarding and how vulnerabilities can increase young people’s risk of becoming involved in crime.

Other commitments include working more closely with partners in social care and education to improve communication with local communities and enhance staff training.

“We will integrate trained school officers into the district’s neighbourhood teams to deliver a broader, community-focused approach to crime prevention to support the safety of children both in and out of school,” the strategy says.

It also promises to create “a more cohesive and collaborative response between juvenile justice, domestic and extra-familial abuse, missing persons units and gang teams”.

The strategy will see an additional 72 officers deployed to join the Met’s child abuse team by the end of the year, many of whom will come from specialist areas including counter-terrorism, the strategy’s author said. Commander Kevin Southworth who is in charge of the police’s public protection department.

Existing pilot projects, including a stop and search trial taking place in north London, and plans to increase the number of suspended sentences for young people who could benefit from an out-of-court settlement, are also included in the plan.

The strategy focuses on strengthening efforts to tackle online abuse, the sharing of offensive images of children and violence against women and girls.

Speaking with CYP now After the launch, Southworth said the strategy heralds a shift in the Met’s “cultural approach” to supporting children rather than “an encyclopaedia of how to police”.

The strategy was developed in the wake of several scandals involving the Met Police, including the case of Child Q in which a 15-year-old girl was frisked at school while she was menstruating and a report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS), which found that police “failed victims of child sexual exploitation”.

The strategy was developed with support from young people and leaders from the children’s sector, including Anne Longfield, former Children’s Commissioner for England, from the Centre for Young Lives.

Longfield said: “Children want to be able to trust that the police will protect and serve them.

“It is vital to ensure that the Met understands the experiences of young people and the challenges they face, and engages with them in a respectful and safe way.”

Ade Adetosoye, Chair of the London Safeguarding Children Partnership Executive, added: “This strategy provides an opportunity for the police to reset its relationship with children and young people. As a board, we welcome and support the Metropolitan Police Service’s Children’s Strategy and we look forward to continuing to work with the Metropolitan Police as they continue their improvement journey.”

An executive committee will be established to oversee the plan’s implementation, including measuring the success of individual commitments using a range of metrics, he added.