HOME OFFICE News
Release (019/2009) issued by COI News Distribution Service. 5
February 2009
A new power to
prevent gang-related violence will be introduced in the Policing
and Crime Bill, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced today.
The proposed new injunction would enable a court to impose a
range of restrictions or requirements on an individual such as:
* Not entering a specified place, for example, the neighbourhood
that the gang regards as 'its' territory, or the area
where the gang has offended because gangs' 'power
bases' are partly the result of everyone in their territory
knowing them and being frightened of them;
* Not being with named members of a gang - gangs are able to
intimidate people because they operate in significant numbers,
alone gang members are much less able to threaten or commit violence;
* Not using or threatening to use violence;
* Not using the internet to encourage or facilitate violence; and
* Not wearing particular items of clothing such as gang colours
or balaclavas which prevent identification.
Alongside this, the Government is proposing that the court should
have the power to require those given an injunction to take part
in positive activities such as community outreach programmes or
mediation sessions between rival gangs to ensure that they are
provided with alternatives to their gang lifestyle.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said:
"Gang violence is unacceptable. It has a significant impact
on communities, both in terms of crime and fear of crime and I am
committed to doing all I can to support local communities and the
police in tackling gang crime. Injunctions will ensure that we are
on the front foot in tackling gangs and able to deliver swift
control during periods of high tension.
"The Tackling Gangs Action Programme showed that the key to
success is getting all local services to work together and the
impact that the use of injunctions had in Birmingham convinced me
that this is a tool needed nationwide."
Similar injunctions were used successfully by Birmingham City
Council and West Midlands Police in 2007 to deliver a reduction in
firearms offences, woundings and robberies in key gang-affected
areas while they were in place.
Assistant Chief Constable Suzette Davenport from West Midlands
Police said:
"Injunctions have been an incredibly effective tool for West
Midlands Police in tackling gang and criminal behaviour. By
disrupting the gang members' ability to meet up and enter
certain parts of the city we are able to more effectively control
behaviour. In addition, the orders have proven to help young
people break the cycle of offending through packages of support,
guidance and training.
"Our ultimate aim is to prevent young people from engaging
in gang related criminal activity. Injunctions are an effective
way of ensuring this."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Birmingham City Council pioneered the use of injunctions under
s.222 of the Local Government Act 1972 to tackle the violent
behaviour often associated with gangs, obtaining some 30 interim
injunctions between August and end-December 2007. This approach
was a coordinated one which combined intensive policing,
deployment of a mediation service, and interventions aimed at
supporting individuals to leave gangs.
While it is not
possible to say that injunctions were the sole driver for change,
a number of the affected parts of Birmingham experienced a
reduction in firearms incidents, woundings and robberies during
the period that injunctions were in place. After January 2008,
when injunctions were no longer available, there was an increase
in firearms incidents, woundings and robberies in key affected
areas. Examples of success include:
* In Handsworth / Lozells / Newtown, the level of robberies in
the 4 months prior to the injunctions averaged 55 per month
compared with 33 per month while injunctions were in place. After
injunctions were removed this rose again to 48.
* In Aston / Nechells, there was an average of 11 firearms
incidents in the 4 months preceding the orders compared with 4 for
the period the orders were in place. After the court judgment,
this figure rose to 9 in March.
* In the city centre, firearms usage dropped from 8 in July 2007
to 1 in September 2007. Again, after inunctions were removed,
there was then a rise leading to a peak of 9 incidents in May 2008.
2. The first opportunity after the Bill is passed to amend the
rules would result in injunctions becoming operational in April 2010.