Safety & Crime

Catherine West MP chatting to local police officers

Violent crime has shot up over recent years at the same time as devastating Tory and Lib Dem austerity has seen 21,000 police officers taken off UK streets, 760 youth centres closed and schools at crisis point. Boris Johnson’s promised new officers won’t even replace those lost.

In Parliament, I’ve led a debate on violent crime in our borough, met with the Home Secretary to urge an end to police funding cuts and called for a special fund to help children at risk of school exclusion. Hundreds of local people signed the open letter I delivered to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to act now on this national emergency.

My latest updates on this issue

Met Police placed in “special measures”

The news that the Met Police has been placed in “special measures” is concerning but sadly not surprising. The Met Police urgently needs to regain the trust of Londoners. There are deep cultural problems in the force that have been exposed so clearly in recent appalling scandals and have been…

Use of Stun Guns

Following a national newspaper story on the introduction of the use of stun guns for Special Constables, I wrote to Haringey’s Borough Commander to raise questions about what this meant for day-to-day policing in Hornsey & Wood Green. I received this response: “The MPS are considering the details of this…

Child Q

I was shocked to hear that a 15-year-old school girl from Hackney was strip searched by the Metropolitan Police, without the presence of teachers, safeguarding officers or her parents. My constituents are rightly questioning how on earth this incident was allowed to happen, something I have asked myself. Last week,…

Make misogyny a hate crime

I firmly believe there is a need for a long overdue change in the law so that misogynistic acts are treated as the serious hate crimes they are. It is very concerning that, according to the Crime Survey of England and Wales, there were 67,000 gender hate incidents in 2018,…

Drink spiking: my letter to the Home Secretary

I’ve written to the Home Secretary about the alarming reports of drink spiking in pubs, bars and nightclubs. Women should be able to enjoy a night out without worrying about the risk of having their drink spiked, and in my letter (above) I’ve urged the Home Secretary to act including…

My letter to the Home Secretary: make the Couzens Inquiry fit for purpose

Lots of constituents have got in touch following the murder of Sarah Everard and the Home Secretary’s announcement of an inquiry. They’ve expressed concerns that the announcements don’t go far enough and I share those concerns. Today, I have written to the Home Secretary to urge her to go further.…

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