Patrolling the Playground: The role of the police in school and pupils perception of their role

Police have formally been entering schools since 1985 since the Conservative Government of the time saw sufficient enough reasons to introduce 'Police School Liaison Officers' into schools under legislation. The role of the police in school until recently had remained present for reason of educational purposes and to improve youths' negative images of the police. However a change in government to New Labour in 1997 saw major reforms of the Criminal Justice System and its agencies, subsequently a major reform to the police: the Police Reform Act 2002 introduced a refocus upon community policing and a crackdown on £inti-social behaviour, thus having a direct effect upon the polices role within schools, shifting from and more of an educational role to an operational one. This study highlight the past an present roles of police in schools, and researches the role of the police in a rural local (Cornish) secondary school, using a triangulation or research to document the role of the police and research youths perception of this role. Key words: police in schools, community policing, youth intervention and triangulation of research.Faculty of Sociology, Politics and La