Call Made For Disbandment Of Met Riot Squad

The riot squad of the Metropolitan Police should be disbanded because of young people’s mistrust of it, a former London mayoral candidate has said.

Green Party Assembly Member Jenny Jones said the Territorial Support Group (TSG) acts like a "paramilitary body".

Ms Jones, deputy chair of the police and crime committee, suggests the money saved by scrapping the TSG should be spent on better police riot training.

In her report, The Kids are All Right: How the Metropolitan Police can gain the trust of young Londoners, she recommends ways to improve confidence in the force.

She writes: "The Met should scrap the TSG and use that funding to train a greater number of police officers for public order situations.

"If the mayor is unwilling to call for this he should prioritise youth training for TSG officers."

TSG commander Mr Bird said the unit had a "perception problem".

"It is this notion that we do the work and move out when in reality the TSG is spread across 32 boroughs.

"Twelve percent of our time is spent dealing with disorder and riots, the rest is in supporting the boroughs."

He said a community reference group was set up last year to look at perception, recruitment, selection and complaints.

He said between 2008 and 2012 there had been a 50% decrease in the number of complaints made against the TSG.

(H/GK)