menu
menu
Zoë Garbett calls for reform of policing in London and a focus on violence against women and girls.
Councillor Zoë Garbett, Green Party candidate for Mayor of Hackney, has called for a new approach to community safety in Hackney.
“I recognise the need to address the root causes of crime, conflict and discrimination. I want to tackle structural inequality and institutional discrimination, and focus on ways to prevent crime,” Councillor Garbett said.
The Child Q case, where a Black girl who was strip-searched by police officers at her Hackney school because of suspected cannabis possession, has revealed to many people how unfair, unjust and racist our policing is.
We also know this is not a one-off incident, but comes after decades of police failings. Yet another report has been published about the scale of the problems within the Metropolitan Police (Met). The Casey Review found the Met to be institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic. Research by local youth-led social-action project Hackney Account has highlighted the trauma young Black people experience when they are stopped and searched by the police.
Zoë wants reform to protect young people from violence and to reform how the police work with communities.
Her policies include:
Before getting elected as a councillor, Zoë worked with the police, community leaders and businesses in Dalston to re-establish the Dalston Police Ward Forum. This Forum has allowed for residents, community members and local businesses to discuss what they need from the police to feel safe, and to address their distrust of police tactics and targeting. “Ward Forums need to be strengthened as a place for the community to scrutinise the police and set appropriate priorities which are agreed with the community,” she said.
See Zoë’s full set of policies on safe communities here.