Can people-power curb violent youth gangs?

Violent youth gangs are menacing many of Britain’s inner-urban areas, and there’s evidence the problem is moving to the suburbs and smaller towns. Police statistics show that over the past three years violent gangs in London have committed over 6,600 crimes. That includes 24 murders, 28 attempted murders, 170 incidents involving a gun, and 738 involving a knife. For neighbourhoods affected by high levels of youth-gang activity the danger is clear and present and continues to tear communities apart and destroy young lives.

We haven’t yet found an effective enough way to tackle violent youth gangs. In Brixton I met a mum living on a council estate plagued by violent youth gangs. She was terrified when her teenage son got involved because she, like all her neighbours, knew young people who’d been killed, injured or ended up in prison after joining a gang. She asked the estate’s housing manager how she could get involved to help keep her boy safe, but the answer she got was all too typical of how our public services work. She was told to leave it to the professionals because they know best. But she knew they didn’t know enough to stop the problem. As a concerned parent she wanted to be heard and she believed she had something to contribute alongside the experts, but nobody was listening.

This week I hosted the first of a national series of Labour youth crime summits. The event, held in Southwark, brought together young people, ex-offenders, victims, gang intervention projects and people working with communities to end the cycle of violence. Earlier this year Ed Miliband signalled his intention to launch a people-power revolution in Britain’s public services, putting more power into the hands of our communities and bringing to an end the era of top-down politics that leaves too many people frustrated and lacking a voice. We don’t have to wait until after the General Election to start putting this into practice; this summit is an example of open policy making that brings the community to the heart of Labour’s thinking on this vitally important issue.

Temi Mwale from community-led project Get Outta The Gang set the tone speaking about the breakdown in trust between politics and people caused by the failure to work more closely with communities to tackle violent youth crime. Detective Superintendent Gary Kelly from the Met Police outlined the chaotic nature of gang crime, saying “they are responsible for a wide range of violent crime including robbery and burglary.” He suggested that the key to stopping gangs was disrupting their drug supply chains with better working across borough boundaries and stronger oversight nationally. He also warned about the increasingly involvement of young women, the growing risk they face of sexual abuse by gang members, and the challenge caused by young people arriving in London from war-torn countries like Syria and Libya, traumatised by their experiences of violence and death.

Brent councillor Zaffar Van Kalwala, chaired the event using ‘open space’ techniques that allow participants to define their own agenda. There was no top table of politicians or experts, this was about everyone having an equal right to contribute and shape the debate. Out of this highly fluid process came some very clear messages.   Participants wanted more power handed to communities to innovate and try out new ideas that fit local circumstances, but with support in place to help them exercise that power. They believe that community-led projects are best placed to reach young people at risk since they have better reach and credibility with young people who are deeply wary of the public authorities, but they need longer-term funding to prove their worth. Prevention, intervention and enforcement all need to work simultaneously, and there needs to be more education and support in schools as well as better coordination to identify the families most at risk and then act early before their children get swept up in a rising spiral of crime.

This people-powered event came up with a people-powered solution. Those who came demanded community involvement to prevent gang crime, swift punishment, and more focus on rehabilitation of ex-offenders. What’s clear is that communities affected by violent gang crime have the understanding to find the answers, they certainly have the motivation, but they don’t yet have the power they need. That’s what Labour needs to change.

Steve Reed is the MP for Croydon North and he is a Shadow Home Office Minister