Next Met Commissioner cannot be a stitch-up
Reacting to the Metropolitan Police being placed under special measures, Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member and member of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee said:
Policing articles
No more police stations or front counters must close
Caroline Pidgeon has written to the Deputy Mayor for Policing, asking her to publish the legal advice she receives on the sale of police buildings like Teddington and Notting Hill Police Stations, and to commit to no further police station or front counter closures in London.
Caroline said:
Urgent assurance is needed on stop and search
Caroline Pidgeon has written to the Mayor of London, seeking assurances over the use of stop and search in London, and again calling for suspicionless stop and search to be banned.
Caroline said:
It remains my view that suspicionless stop and search should cease to be used. It is a practice which destroys community relations with the police. I have particular concerns over the Deputy Commissioner's record on this issue.
Police watchdog report highlights the need for urgent and fundamental change
As Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services released its report into the Metropolitan Police's anti-corruption practices, Caroline Pidgeon said:
The report by HMIC into counter-corruption in the Met Police and other issues arising from the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel Report is damning. Urgent and fundamental change is required, particularly internal procedures for managing evidence and issuing warrant cards.
Questions must now be answered on Met’s wider use of strip search
Answers to vital questions about the Met’s wider use of strip search must be provided, says the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon.
In a letter to the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Caroline asks for the answers to five key questions.
Catalytic converter theft has soared to worryingly high rates
The London Assembly Liberal Democrat Group has obtained figures showing soaring rates of catalytic converter theft across London, with Barnet and Hillingdon the worst afflicted boroughs.
Group leader Caroline Pidgeon said:
“A crime that hardly existed in 2017 soared in 2019 and remains at worryingly high levels across much of London, with gangs most recently targeting cars in Barnet, Enfield, Ealing and Hillingdon.
The new Met commissioner must be bold, brave and brutally honest
Writing at Politics Home, Caroline Pidgeon AM sets out the scale of the challenge for an incoming Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
Caroline says:
More must be done to rebuild Black Londoners’ trust in the police
Speaking in the London Assembly, Caroline Pidgeon stressed the urgency of rebuilding trust in the police among Black Londoners.
Caroline said:
"Black Londoners are disproportionately impacted by knife crime.
The Met Police culture review must deal with homophobia, sexism and racism
Caroline Pidgeon has called for the review into culture and standards in the Met to specifically include a commitment to look at homophobia, sexism and racism in the service.
Caroline has written to Baroness Louise Casey urging her to update the working terms of reference for her review into culture and standards in the Met, to ensure that the issues of homophobia, sexism and racism in the service are specifically included.
Caroline said:
Mayor’s priorities for policing are vague, lacking in detail and don't address falling public confidence
The Mayor of London needs to step up with far more ambitious plans for policing in the capital, is the key message he has been sent by the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, in her detailed submission responding to the Draft Police and Crime Plan for the capital from 2022 to 2025.
In her submission to the legally required consultation Caroline Pidgeon, a long standing member of the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee, set out the following key areas where the Mayor needs to step up:
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