Katrina Ffrench

Guided by her unwavering commitment to racial equity and social justice, Katrina is the founding director of UNJUST C.I.C. Established in January 2021, UNJUST C.I.C specialises in addressing the discriminatory culture, policies, and practices within policing and the criminal legal system. Last year, UNJUST and Awate Suliman instructed Liberty and Doughty Street Chambers, as counsel, to challenge the Metropolitan Police use of the Gangs Matrix. The litigation was successful, with the Metropolitan Police settling the case and admitting to breaching article 8 Human Rights Act.

Katrina read Social and Political Sciences at Hughes Hall, Cambridge, and since graduating, has worked in various local government authorities and charitable organisations. Formerly the chief executive of StopWatch, a national research and action charity focused on stop and search policing, Katrina has overseen the publication of several evidence-based reports and led a range of advocacy initiatives to influence policy and practice. Known for speaking truth to power, in June 2020, Katrina was invited to provide oral evidence to the Home Affairs Committee – The MacPherson 22 years Inquiry. In November 2020, Katrina was awarded Associate status by Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, and is a member of the Black British Voices Project Steering Group, being led by the Sociology department.

Katrina sits on the Independent Scrutiny and Oversight Board which oversees the national Police Race Action Plan; She is a trustee of Transform Drug Policy Foundation and, in May 2022, was elected as a councillor for the London Borough of Wandsworth.Katrina has actively volunteered her time to provide community scrutiny to the policing power of stop and search; in addition to chairing Islington Stop and Search Community Monitoring Group for three years, she has held the vice-chair and chair positions on the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime Pan-London Stop and Search Community Monitoring Network. Katrina has experience sitting on local community partnerships and was an Islington Safer Neighbourhood Board executive member.