Crime and Policing
Boris announces youth crime action plan
Boris Johnson visited Edmonton in North London today to launch ‘Time For Action’, his long-awaited action plan to tackle the causes of teenage violence and criminality in the capital.
The plan, which outlines five ‘core projects’ the Mayor will be working on, is expected to work alongside existing police operations such as Blunt 2. The Mayor’s ‘core projects’ are:
“1. Giving young offenders in prison for the first time the life tools that will enable careers other than professional criminality. It makes sense on all levels, even financially.
2. Teachers can only educate kids if they are actually in school. Truancy needs more co-ordinated and assertive effort. 3. Only a tiny minority of children in care go to university. They are much more likely to end up in prison. We want to change these numbers.
4. Their behaviour shows that too many young people lack self-respect and character. Organisations like the Scouts, Girl Guides and Police Cadets know a lot about character, and we need their help.
5. Sport can unify and redeem. Healthy bodies lead to healthy minds, and we want more sporty, active kids in our city. In addition to these themes, the Mayor wants to establish specialist Mayoral Academies across London to help equip the city and young people with the skills needed for the future.”
City Hall officials are stressing that the plan represents the Mayor’s initial response to the issue and Londoners are invited to share their views in a consultation process which runs until 16th December.
Speaking at today’s launch Mayor Johnson said “a small but significant minority have seriously disengaged from society and I believe we must respond in two ways. Firstly through highly visible policing to deter criminality and secondly through measures to address the complex root causes of crime, exclusion and violence.”
“vital that we address the soaring levels of re-offending and the ridiculous situation where first time offenders are more likely to leave custody and commit crime than find a job and contribute to society. We must also do much more to give all children a decent start in life. That means better parenting, more work to address truancy and more opportunities for young people to develop their character and through education and sporting activities.”
After last month being urged to consider his language about youths in the capital the Mayor also commented that “the majority of our young people who are well balanced and full of ambition.”
Green Party Assembly Member Jenny Jones said Johnson’s plans don’t go far enough, commenting: “effective community service schemes would not only improve community safety for all Londoners, they are also likely to be much cheaper for the tax payer. The Mayor should work with ministers to deliver such a scheme as quickly as possible.”
Londoners wishing to comment on the Mayor’s plans can do so via the www.london.gov.uk website.
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Whilst the Mayor’s plans clearly prioritise funding tackling youth violence, his commitments must go further to deal with the problem. He clearly understands the need to provide guidance and programmes to steer young people away from violence, gangs and knife crime, but there is simply not enough focus on this. Knife crime is cited as the tip of what the Mayor calls a “pyramid of violence”, but at Beatubullying we believe we need to see more real preventative work targeted at tackling the behaviours at the bottom of the pyramid.
At Beatbullying, we know that the anti-social behaviours at the bottom of the pyramid can escalate to more serious violent crime without suitable and sustained intervention. Instead of fire-fighting with the consequences once a young person has reached the tip of the pyramid, Beatbullying believes it is far more logical, and effective, to tackle the causes and problems that have led a young person to that position.
The importance of education outlined in project Euclid is vital, but the focus is still on the late intervention policing and protocols on attendance, without enough emphasis on the root causes behind truancy, or on best practice resources to prevent truancy in the first place. City Hall must first look closer at why so many pupils are missing education, and implement strategies to address these causes.
The Mayors vision of hope for the youth of London will only come to fruition with an integrated approach from parents, teachers and the third sector, all acknowledging the cold, hard facts of gateway behavior to work closely with the perpetrators to tackle bullying and youth violence head on helping to create a greater and safer capital.
Emma-Jane has expanded on her comments above in an article available at
http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/boris-could-be-missing-the-point-on-youth-violence/20085103