No Police in Schools is a community campaign united by our shared concerns over the increasing presence of police in schools in Greater Manchester and beyond.

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About

No Police in Schools is a community campaign led by Kids of Colour and the Northern Police Monitoring Project.

We are united by our shared concern over the increasing presence of police in schools in Greater Manchester and beyond. We are parents, teachers, young people, youth workers, community members, academics, and activists, and we believe that there should be No Police in Schools.

Timeline

Across 2019 - the issue of police in schools was raised several times, particularly by young people, at our community events

February 2020 - a response to a Freedom of Information request reveals that Greater Manchester Police plan to put 20 additional police in schools for the 2020/2021 academic year

March 2020 - Kids of Colour and NPMP host well-attended community meeting on police in schools

March 2020 - We sent an open letter detailing our concerns about police in schools to Andy Burnham, as Mayor of Greater Manchester. The letter was signed by 400 people

June 2020 - We formalise our partnership with the National Education Union’s North West Black Members Organising Forum, holding a meeting with over 80 teachers on No Police In Schools

August 2020 - We launched our report Decriminalise the Classroom: A Community Response to Police in Greater Manchester’s Schools

August 2020 - University of Manchester UCU pass ‘no police in schools’ motion

October 2020 - National Education Union Manchester branch becomes first union district to pass ‘no police in schools’ motion

October 2020 - We joined Chantelle Lewis and Tissot Regis on the Surviving Society Podcast to talk about the campaign

November 2020 - National Education Union Oldham becomes second union district to pass ‘no police in schools’ motion

December 2020 - National Education Unions Trafford becomes third union district to pass ‘no police in schools’ motion

April 2021 - Manchester Momentum and GM Tenants Unions vote to affiliate with our campaign

May 2021 - ACORN votes to affiliate with our campaign

June 2021 - No police in schools billboards go up across Greater Manchester

July 2021 - A WIN in our journey! Read our statement

July 2021 - over 1600 sign our petition to remove police from Greater Manchester schools

September 2021 - we spoke to Huck Magazine about why we don’t want police in schools

December 2021 - The Association of Educational Psychologists passed a motion to promote alternatives to Schools Based Police Officers and to advocate for resolving situations in schools without police involvement wherever possible

January 2022 - we spoke about the campaign at the Kill the Bill protest, alongside Northern Policy Monitoring Project

January 2022 - The Runnymede Trust revealed from an FOI that there are 979 police officers operating in schools across the UK, putting forward recommendations to government to withdraw all offers and end the power of the police to strip search children  

February 2022 - we launched an open letter demanding that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority fund healing centred approaches to youth violence. The campaign was featured in Galdem

March 2022 - we organised a demonstration in Manchester in solidarity with child Q and the brutal treatment she received at the hands of police in a school in Hackney. We launched a national #NoPoliceInSchools petition. March marked two years since the campaign started

July 2022 - We spoke at a Liberty x No More Exclusions online event on police in schools.

September 2022 - we spoke at The World Transformed conference on a panel entitled ‘From Child Q to the Manchester 10: Police Violence Against Kids’ and handed Jeremy Corbyn a copy of the Decriminalise the Classroom report

January 2023 - A report we were referenced in was released, Over-policed and under- protected: the road to Safer Schools, which reveals that there are over 979 police officers operating in UK schools

January 2023 - we released a statement regarding police child sex offences addressed to Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, the GMCA, Head Teachers in the Greater Manchester area and anyone who supports the placement of police in schools

Want to help our cause?

Resources

Here you can find a range of resources related to our campaign, and the wider issue of police in schools.

Take Action

If you want to take action, please have a look at the steps below to see what you can do.

FAQs

Find answers to some of the frequently asked questions about our campaign, and the wider issue of police in schools.

Contact

Want to get in touch? Reach out to us below and let us know your thoughts.