Stop it before it starts ! - to prevent Youth Knife / Violent Crime
In England & Wales there were 285 killings by a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months ending March 2018 – the highest since records began in 1946. Office for National Statistics analysis shows.
The ONS says one in four (71) of all victims (285) were men aged 18-24.
The figures also show 25% of victims were black - the highest proportion since data was first collected in 1997.
The figures show a 45% increase in the number of victims aged 16-24 and a 23% increase in those aged 25-34.
As of 4th July 2019 there have been 67 murders in London so far this year. Of those – at least five were aged 19 or under.
It is possible to reduce and prevent knife/violent crime in young people by using a “Stop it before it Starts” approach.
London has announced it is to follow Scotland's public health approach to help tackle violent crime. The idea of treating crime as a disease is not new, however. It originated on the streets of Chicago more than two decades ago and has its roots in the fight against Aids in Africa.
It is a situation that bears similarities with the streets of Chicago 20 years ago.
Dr Gary Slutkin, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organisation, returned there in the mid 1990s after years spent fighting infectious diseases in Asia and Africa.
In Uganda he had tackled the spread of Aids with some success. However, he had become jaded by the death and misery he witnessed and was looking forward to a break.
"I saw that all this violence was happening in America and I didn't even know, as I'd been away for so long, I thought America had no problems," he said.
"When I came here I saw in the newspapers and TV that there were 14 year olds shooting 13 year olds in the head. Killing them. Just little kids shooting each other. What is this?"
He realised violent incidents were occurring in clusters at certain locations and at certain times.
Furthermore, the violence appeared to be replicating itself, similar to an infectious disease. One violent incident would lead to another and then another, and so on.
Finally, violence was increasing rapidly in a fashion very similar to an epidemic wave.
As an epidemiologist, he knew to look for three things before classing a disease as contagious; (i)clustering, (ii)self-replication and (iii)epidemic waves.
Dr Slutkin concluded Chicago was facing an epidemic disease just as bad as what he had witnessed in Uganda.
He decided to treat the problem in the same way.
Moved to action, he obtained funding from a local university and set up Cure Violence - a project dedicated to using public health methods to tackle violent crime.
As with the fight against Aids, the first rule was that violence should not be treated as "a problem with bad people". Instead, it would be treated as a contagion that infected people. This meant aiming to prevent violence before it broke out and mitigate it once it had.
In Uganda, Dr Slutkin and his colleagues had learned people would only listen to safe sex advice if it was delivered by their peers.
"We used people who had the same access and reach from the same population," Dr Slutkin says.
"Gay men to reach gay men, sex workers to reach sex workers."
In Chicago, he adopted a similar approach. Controversially, he recruited former gang members to educate current gang members, intervene in disputes and hopefully prevent the violence at source.
The results were instant: crime in its pilot area, West Garfield, dropped significantly. Soon the project was being adopted across other troubled parts of the city.
Key to its success were the former gang members, known as Violence Interrupters. Employed as a link between - but crucially separate from - law enforcement and the gangs, they used their community contacts to identify high-risk situations and individuals and then intervene in disputes before they escalated into violence.
The impact of this community engagement approach has been significant.
Cure Violence keeps track of the city's different gangs and tries to maintain relationships with all of them.
In Scotland, Glasgow has adapted the approach - incorporating it into a wider public health strategy involving education, health and social services.
The city has seen its murder rate drop by more than a half between 2004 and 2017.
Scotland's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) was set up to stem the tide of knife crime which saw Glasgow become Europe's murder capital.
From its formation in 2005 the VRU proposed a fresh approach to tackling the problem.
Its key message was that gang-related stabbings and slashings were not just a policing issue but a public health issue. The unit's motto was a simple one: "Violence is preventable, not inevitable."
In 2004/05 there were 137 murders in Scotland. But by 2016/17 the total had more than halved to 61.
Over the years the VRU has worked closely with partners in the NHS, education and social work.
It has stressed the importance of positive role models and its projects have been shaped by statistics.
The Southside Young Leaders Academy in London is running an initiative which helps keep young people on the right path. As Ros Griffiths the CEO has said “ They are judged where they come from and what they look like, One third of British children live in poverty.Black and Asian children are mostly affected. People are living in a parallel universe ….you having a latte across the road while young people opposite you are living at risk of living a life of misery.They are at risk of exclusion
Boys 9-16 at risk of exclusion. Children on free school meals are x 4 times likely to be excluded than those who are not. Over half of the population in prison were excluded from school.
Between 2012 – 2017 the number of children excluded from state secondary schools increased by two thirds. Children need to be cared for not punished, 5 black boys sitting ona wall ? what do you think ? how do you feel ? There must be no stereotyping”.
Southside have awarded bursary places at the private boarding school King Edwards in Witley, Surrey for some of their young boys. It is a pleasant, fresh air environment outside London.
At King Edwards the boys get greater attention from teachers and have career aspirations as Actors, Lawyers, Engineers, Footballers that they wouldn’t have in other circumstances. They have great chances and opportunities and stop being rude and incompliant and don’t follow the stereotype for children with their background at King Edwards. They can be who they want to be.
Once a child is excluded they feel no one wants them.We must get there before they are excluded or feel no one wants them.
The average cost to keep a child in a Young offenders prison is £75,000 per year
It costs £30,000 per year to send a child to private boarding school like St. Edwards
Boarding school is not the answer to every situation.
The point is - we need to invest in young people. How do we make them useful and positive for society ?
We need to invest in disadvantaged communities and turn them into thriving communities.
Create Leaders that will create more Leaders. Boarding School is one of the solutions not the solution.
Teach the children to conquer their deepest fears. Instil in them the tools to conquer their fears
Instil self belief in themselves. It is damaging if they are told they are inadequate.
Educate all children as to what can happen and how using knives contributes to a shortened life or a life of misery.
There are hundreds of establishments across the UK catering for children expelled from mainstream schools usually for “persistent disruptive behaviour” rather than anything more serious such as carrying a knife or drug dealing.
England has 221 pupil referral units (PRUs) for excluded children. Another 89 “alternative provision” schools operate as academies and 42 as free schools, while a growing number of independent schools charge councils for each pupil.
Many of these establishments for excluded children are not inspected. Some simply offer online learning. Others close after lunch discharging the youngsters in their care long before parents get home from work. Many use staff who are not qualified teachers. Some institutions for excluded pupils have become “gang grooming grounds” where children are exposed to other gang members.
A growing number of gang crimes involve expelled children being used to run drugs along “county lines”
Sadly exclusion rates are soaring.
In 2017 7,700 children were permanently excluded from schools in England – a 67% increase since 2012. Pupils who misbehave or perform poorly are increasingly likely to be thrown out of maintained schools more concerned with their results than getting the best out of every child.
A Holistic approach is required with a number of workstreams of action
Don’t exclude children from mainstream education.
Use Reformed Juvenile offenders to mentor disruptive children in mainstream schools
Only provide PRUs that are inspected and regulated.
It is a sad truth that children from broken homes, poor backgrounds, and ethnic minorities are most at risk of getting caught up in crime.
Stability & Structure is required all the way through from nursery to 18 Years
Start as tiny babies – help and support all the way through to 18 years old
Positive role models – Sports Coaches, Youth Club Leaders
Positive Pathways
Stop it before it starts Approach
A “Public Health Issue” approach is required for young people from poorer backgrounds in deprived areas.
Step1 – Vulnerability Assessment
For the child do analysis of their parents and grandparents back ground:
Parent & Grandparent Status: married, cohabiting, single
Ethnic group
Income
Employment history
Education qualifications
Criminal history
Do analysis of the child’s background:
School history
Education qualifications
Youth Club history
Criminal history
Gang affiliation history
Child Interests & Hobbies
Step 2 - Create the Positive Pathway - Cradle to 18 Action Plan
Education pathway
Skills Pathway
Positive Role Models Stakeholder Plan - Sports Coaches, Youth Club Leaders, Peer reformed offenders
Stability and Structure Pathway
Step 3 - Monitor the Positive Pathway
Regular Progress meetings on child’s Positive Pathway
Skills Pathway
Positive Role Models Stakeholder Plan - Sports Coaches, Youth Club Leaders, Peer reformed offenders
Use Reformed Juvenile offenders to mentor disruptive children in mainstream schools .Peer children from young offenders institutions who have reformed and found a positive pathway must teach the children – not the older generation.
Multiple Stakeholders need to be involved. In no particular order these include:
Parents
Local Schools
Youth Groups
Local Councils
Reformed Offenders as mentors
Police Forces
Youth Charities
Private Schools
References
Office for National Statistics & BBC - 7th February 2019
The Independent– 3rd March 2019
Sunday Times – 3rd March 2019
BBC News – Thomas Mackintosh 21st September 2018
BBC Scotland News – Paul O’Hare 4th March 2019