Use more community organisations to prevent knife crime now

Ade Sawyerr argues that it is up to us as individuals and members of community organisations to be vocal, to be willing to get involved and to ensure the right political and economic structures are put in place to tackle knife and gun crime.

Youth crime has always been with us in London but has become more topical in recent times because of the increased levels of death and serious injuries involving young people. Youth crime has escalated from the use of fisticuffs to more violent acts of stabbing and shooting as the ‘modus operandi’ to settle most arguments and disagreements. Now the must-have accessories are more often than not, knives and guns and possession is often fuelled by gangs, drugs, honour and respect issues.

The perpetrators of these severe forms of crime are getting younger by the day. Young people are trying to formulate their own ways of dealing with the bullies; they carry knives because they think they will look tough and this will be a deterrent. It is no longer cool to report this to their parents or the right authorities because their perception is that the authorities cannot protect them. Instead they seek protection in gangs where peer pressure is exerted on them through the initiation, honour and loyalty to the gang and end up ready to avenge wrongs done to their collective or prove how tough they are – a vicious herd instinct comes into play.

The problems with carrying guns and knives is that there is a high probability that they will be used and once this happens the problems escalates for all in the community. The irony is that the perpetrators of knife crimes are also more likely to be victims of crime themselves.

The election of a new mayor in the capital presents a real opportunity for past policies to be reviewed, bearing in mind that ‘quick fixes and quick wins’ have not been ineffective in tackling crime. A one size fits all approach will also not work because enduring solutions are needed.

Without the involvement of community groups working in concerted action with public agencies and the young people themselves, the issue will remain topical and more knee-jerk reactions will waste a lot of resources without coming to the crux of the issue.

Past initiatives that concentrated on the criminal justice system, police, prison and probation as tools with which youth crime can be tackled successfully, have not worked. Where people of African Caribbean and Asian descent are concerned they have been detrimental and only succeeded in harassing young people and turning some of the young ones into hardened criminals who will reoffend time and again.

The suggestion that tough sentencing will deter young people from carrying knives is unlikely to work, we must not only be more imaginative but we must seek realistic solutions on prevention. Tough sentencing is a stage too late and will happen when people have already been killed. Besides, Current statistics show that there are as many young black people going to jail as are going into university, a situation that needs to be addressed and redressed.

Traditional faith based organisation that are used for diversion work also have to engage in outreach work to get at the young people. The bad boys are outside the radar of the do good organisations, religion is not a central part of their family lives any longer. Specialist organisations dedicated to diversion, youth offending and rehabilitation are not always successful with prevention work because they are not set up to work with ordinary young people but with young people who are at risk of offending or who have started doing so. Because of the inability of these specialist organisations to resolve the problem, A London wide comprehensive approach using voluntary and community organisations is now being advocated.

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