Safer Schools Officers: An effective intervention or a policy assumption?

29th June 2026Dr Sean Bell, Lecturer, The Open University

Safer Schools Officers (SSOs) are now a common feature of policing in England and Wales, supporting efforts for early intervention, multi-agency working and child-centred practice; but Dr Sean Bell of the Open University and Jay Karecha of Liverpool John Moores University highlight that with the evaluation of the effectiveness of SSOs fragmented, and the role itself poorly defined, there is a clear need for a stronger and more consistent evidence base, and more honesty about what is known and what is assumed.

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Safer Schools Officers: An effective intervention or a policy assumption?

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