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Government unveils tough new plans to tackle gangs
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor22.05.08
Sweeping new measures to combat gang violence will be announced by the Government today in a bid to halt the wave of stabbings and shootings on Britain's streets.
One key change will be an instant guarantee of anonymity for witnesses who come forward to testify against gang members. There will also be extended powers for police to use court orders to restrict the movements of gang members in specific areas.
Further reforms include a new £5 million campaign against knife crime and a bid to encourage teachers to screen pupils' computer accounts to identify teenagers at risk of becoming involved in gangs.
The new proposals will be outlined today by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in a speech at a summit on gang violence which is being held at the Aston Villa football ground in Birmingham.
They are among 54 recommendations in a report by Deputy Chief Constable John Murphy, head of the Home Office's Tackling Gangs Action Programme.
Gang violence has contributed to the deaths of 40 teenagers in the capital since the start of last year.
Ms Smith said she and police recognised that offering speedier anonymity to those prepared to testify could play a key role in tackling the problem.
"We want witnesses to feel safe enough to give evidence right from the start," she said.
At the moment, witnesses are not usually offered anonymity until some time after they have come forward, leaving them vulnerable. The number of convictions for witness intimidation has more than doubled in the past decade.
In schools, headteachers will be asked to draw up emergency plans to cope with violence and to be alert to the risk of girls being subject to gang intimidation and "sexual initiation" rites.
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Reader views (6)
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Could it be that a failure to properly discipline children has created this breakdown in self discipline that we now see on our streets? Government interference, in the name of child protection, has created a situation where children have become untouchable.
Government policy has also insulated children from the real world. For example they know nothing of failure because it is no longer possible to say a child has failed. Even at GCSE, instead of honestly informing our children when they fail an exam, instead they are told they were 'unclassified'!
- Keith Simpson, Wareham, Dorset
All it will mean is yet another restriction on the average citizens civil liberties, but it will not deter the gangs. Maybe the govt could blame it on smoking, after all they spend so much money to stop that criminal habit, the streets are so much safer now.
- Jack Napier, London England
Until these bunch of leftie apologist really get tough on the scumbags that have taken over our streets nothing will happen. How many more young people are to be allowed to be murdered before the public tell this lot enough is enough. Only when prison is somewhere these people fear to go will we begin to reclaim the streets from them. Till then they know that even in the very unlikely event they end up in prison its no big deal. TV and sky in their cells, good food and more drugs available in prison than on the outside. Repeal the EU human rights bill and start to make prison hard time like it used to be.
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Samui Thailand
