An MP believes that every secondary school should be assigned its own police officer.

Mitcham and Morden's Siobhain McDonagh is currently campaigning for a greater police presence for her town centres, but thinks that building relationships between authority figures and children from an early age could play a big part in tackling crime rates.

"We’re campaigning for every school to have it’s own school police officer like it used to have, so they could build relationships up with children" she told the Wimbledon Times.

"Since the numbers have dropped it has gone to one police officer for two schools and more of police going into schools to do events and modules.

"We think that if you’re going to build relationships up with the kids and some of the best intelligence you get is from building up relationships with the kids, you have to be there there.

"You hear things that are going to kick off, it’s more effective."

Earlier this year, chief of Ofsted Amanda Spielman said that some schools in the wider London area are not conducting knife searches, or teaching about knife crime, because they worry about how it will make them appear.

"Many school and college leaders we spoke to were trying to educate children about the dangers of knife crime and the risks of grooming and exploitation by gangs," she said.

“However, some are concerned that if they do this they will be seen as a ‘problem school’, and subsequently avoided by parents.”

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Ms McDonagh admitted that a lack of officers, coupled with a slowing recruitment, may make her idea difficult.

But she believes that engaging with the community is a vital move nonetheless.

"The numbers leaving the Met Police force are increasing more quickly than their ability to recruit," she added.

"I think part of it is housing costs, the cost of living in London, that a lot of people are moving to other forces and other parts of the country.

"Recruitment has also become difficult because of the gang and knife crime.

"There are real issues about being a detective in London, to incentivise police to do it. They are offering them £4000 a year more but nobody wants to do it."

Away from the classroom, even groups like after-school boxing clubs and groups for teenagers to gather is a safe environment are feeling the pinch.

"The problem is that most local authorities have had cuts between 50 and 60 per cent and when you’re looking to make cuts as a local authority the first thing you cut is the non-statutory services obviously, so the youth service is always the first to go," she added.

"Now we have the Mayor of London and his fund, specific grants for the home office, all to plug those gaps that were made with the cuts to local government.

"But there are so many groups in need of funding that unfortunately, not all bids can be successful."