On 17th March, Caroline Pidgeon questioned the Met’s Deputy Commissioner on why more efforts weren’t made to work with organisers to facilitate a safe vigil for Sarah Everard – as Caroline and Luisa Porritt and had pushed for – and how the Met will be working to earn back the trust of women in London.
Writing for Liberal Democrat Voice following the tragic murder of Sarah Everard, Caroline Pidgeon discusses what needs to be done to approach the epidemic of violence against women.
"What has come from Sarah’s tragic murder is a bubbling over of anger and resentment from women to a society that perpetuates violence against them and a desire to take hold of the discourse on this issue from men so we can see real change.
"Women will not be silenced."
The dramatic rise in the theft of car catalytic converters has been revealed by detailed figures obtained by Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon.
Despite many crimes falling during lockdown, the theft of car catalytic converters has soared across London between 2019 and 2020, with increases in 27 of the 32 London boroughs covered by the Metropolitan Police. The borough with the highest number of thefts was Barnet, seeing 1114 thefts in 2020 – more than three thefts a day.
Caroline spoke on BBC Radio London about the need to end police tactics like suspicionless stop and search in London, which are diminishing confidence in our police
Caroline said:
Writing for Inside Croydon, Caroline Pidgeon AM discusses the issues that have caused the public in London to lose confidence in the Metropolitan Police.
Caroline concludes:
The issues facing the Met are varied and complex, but radical action is needed to tackle the drop in confidence the Met has seen. We need to re-open and replace the police front counters lost in recent years, as well as finding new ways to encourage engagement between communities and the police.
Caroline Pidgeon AM has written to the Met raising concerns and questions about the removal of contracted doctors (FMEs) from healthcare provision in custody suites across London.
Caroline described her concerns that the changes will place increasing demand on Custody Nurse Practitioners, who already have incredibly demanding roles, and risk the safety of not just detainees, but also officers and custody staff.
In the London Assembly, Caroline spoke about the huge loss of Metropolitan Police Sergeant Matt Ratana in September, who represented the best of policing.
There were also some very special tributes from Jennette Arnold AM and Steve O’Connell AM, who had both worked with him.
Caroline Pidgeon has seconded a motion in the London Assembly calling for two-yearly unconscious bias training for all officers and staff in the Metropolitan Police Service.
This will not only help to increase confidence in our police but also be an important first step in showing the force is committed to tackling bias.
As the London Assembly returned to City Hall, Caroline spoke to support a motion calling for more officers for the Metropolitan Police.
Caroline said:
London can’t face further cuts to our police. We need:
- More Met officers to deal with the complex and unique nature of the capital’s crime;
After questioning from Caroline Pidgeon about the use of police force against Black Londoners, the Mayor has released figures showing that in January and February of this year Black Londoners accounted for 33% of incidents where force was used, compared to 32% in the same period of 2019.
Caroline said:
"This is a worrying and unacceptable trend, especially given Black Londoners make up 12% of the population.
