John Woolf

WHEN I was growing up in north London, we lived next door to a drug dealer.

The police would occasionally visit and tell us to report, but it felt like nothing was being done. We lost confidence and my overall impression was that police weren’t on our side.

Fast-forward to my teenage years: I was mugged; the police took a statement; nothing seemingly happened.

My overall impression was that the police can’t do anything to help.

On another occasion I was on an anti-war protest.

I saw one police officer roughly treating a protester. I confronted the officer; he laughed in my face. My overall impression: beware the police.

That sense of trepidation and my overall impressions were echoed by people I knew at the time and, sadly, they have often been repeated in the conversations I have had in my role as executive member for community safety. Young people especially have told us that they cannot fully trust the police.

The concerns are more significant for people from black and minoritised communities.

The Baroness Casey report confirmed what many experienced: the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic.

In a time when public trust in our police is needed more than ever, we need an MPS that the community can wholeheartedly trust.

That’s why last night, Thursday, at our full council meeting we publicly urged the MPS to commit to a culturally competent and accountable police service that serves the diverse needs of our community.

As a council, we recognise that trust is the bedrock of effective policing, and without it, we cannot hope to address the complex challenges our borough faces.

And in order to rebuild trust, the MPS must accept the Louise Casey report and undergo radical reform.

Islington police have risen to the challenge.

We called on them to commit to a 10-point action plan with practical, tangible actions developed with our community.

This has been initiated and needs to be swiftly implemented.

Islington police have also been working on a number of initiatives to restore trust and confidence.

We have been working closely with the Borough Commander and Superintendent and I am grateful for their hard work and commitment.

I am grateful for the work that they and their officers undertake, night and day, to make our borough safer.

I know that we can be optimistic.

The key will be working with our community which is why, in the coming months, we will be visiting every ward to listen to residents.

Many initiatives, such as the Safe Havens scheme, the violence reduction strategy, and knife bins, would be impossible without community collaboration.

These have already yielded positive results: knife crime and youth violence have seen reductions, and diversion programmes have been successful.

The Baroness Casey Review revealed the deep-seated problems, including a staggering £700million reduction in funding, resulting in adverse effects on neighbourhood policing. This needs to change.

The path to reform will be challenging, but it is a path we must tread to ensure that every resident in Islington feels safe and valued.

Together, we can build a brighter, more inclusive, future with our community.

• John Woolf is Islington Council’s Executive Member for Community Safety