The Metropolitan Police's decision to remove 371 specialist officers from schools is "undermining the trust of young people" in the force, a headteacher has warned. Jessica West, the Principal of Ark Walworth Academy, said shifting trained 'Safer School Officers' into wider neighbourhood teams is "catastrophic" and threatened children's safety.

Since 2009, Safer School Officers had been deployed within designated schools , where they focused on de-escalating peer-on-peer conflict. But the Met scrapped the role in May and assigned each staff member to a specific neighbourhood policing ward instead.

Earlier today Ms West told the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee that her Southwark school, one of the filming locations for popular drama Top Boy, that reducing interaction be

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