Latest news with #ViolenceReductionUnit
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Youth workers in London custody centres stop 90% reoffending, says report
A scheme aiming to turn children arrested for violence away from crime has claimed staggering success, with up to nine out of 10 diverted from further offending, a new report says. Under the scheme, which is funded by London's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), special youth workers are placed in police custody centres across the capital. The VRU claims the overwhelming majority of 10- to 17-year-olds do not reoffend within 12 months of release from custody. Lib Peck, the director of the London VRU, said the £40m-a-year cost of the unit, which runs a range of initiatives, is more than made up for by the money saved from the cost of reoffending. She said prevention works and deserves more money, adding: 'Society and government have focused a lot more on policing and enforcement than they have on prevention.' A report to mark London VRU's first five years of operating says the cost of youth violence in London alone is £1bn a year, including the cost to the police, courts system, health and victim services. VRUs sprung up across the UK amid a growing concern over knife crime. London's unit is the biggest, with the capital also suffering the highest rate of knife crime. The report details what drives violent crime and how a public health approach can help reduce it. The scheme includes support based at hospital emergency departments aimed to stop retaliation from victims of violence, as well as services in police custody suites that have tried to help 800 children. The report says: 'Monitoring data shows that nearly three-quarters of young people in hospital following a stabbing or violent incident reduced their risk of harm after the intervention from a youth worker. 'And last year, data reported by our projects showed that almost 90 percent of teenagers arrested for violent offences did not reoffend over the next 12 months following intervention and help from a youth worker based in the busiest police stations in London.' The scheme is showing signs of being able to exploit the 'teachable moment', long talked about by police and youth workers. It is the point where someone is wavering between continuing as a criminal or turning their back on violence. Michael Gosling, one of the London youth workers based in police custody, said he tries to earn childrens' trust and tells them not to discuss their crimes with him, with most wanting to talk about what led to them being under arrest. 'Going into custody can be quite scary,' he said. 'I try to appeal to them by using body language. I tell them I am there for them, I am not there to judge them. 'We are not wearing the get up of a police officer. I make it clear I am not a police officer.' Austerity led to a retreat from the streets where gangs driving violence took hold. VRUs and the expansion of youth work they involve, represent an attempt to counter attitudes supporting violence. Gosling said of one case: 'He was a product of his environment.' Some youngsters are driven by needing money to eat, others to buy trainers or just getting money exploiting 'the playground of opportunities', Gosling said. 'Older gang members are looking for younger children who are vulnerable, to recruit them,' he added. Gosling said others see violence as a necessary part of their attempt to make money: 'The thought process is here and now. They are out to get it by any means necessary.' The report says low trust in the Metropolitan police damages the fight against crime: 'Trust and confidence in policing have seen sustained declines over recent years – just 46 percent of Londoners believe the police do a good job in their local area. This is 10 percent below where it was 5 years ago.' One young person mentioned reportedly described their reluctance to report a crime to the police, 'saying they weren't sure if they would be treated as a victim or perpetrator. They described feeling 'powerless''. Peck said: 'I don't think you can get away from the fact that it's a very problematic relationship at times. 'We just see the consequences of it.' The VRU also claims success reducing school exclusions, and says children not in education are more likely to become involved in violence. Peck said: 'Whatever the cost to the taxpayer [of the VRU] we are saving the same or saving more.' Since the VRU started in 2019, homicide rates are down in the capital and its murder rate is now lower than Paris, Toronto, Manchester and Berlin, but higher than Rome and the West Midlands. Other crime types are increasing and London's VRU, largely funded by the mayor, is seen as a long term project for a decade or more. Key factors driving violence remain poverty, deprivation and alienation, with drugs a key factor – 56% of homicides between 2012/13 and 2017/18 in London were drug-related, according to the report. There is also an increase in the proportion of 10- to 14-year-olds suspected of violence.
The Herald Scotland
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Are we going back to days when Glasgow was murder capital of Europe?
So, in relative terms, such crimes are far less common than they were in Scotland's past. That will, however, be cold comfort to the families of those who have been the victim of such terrible crimes. Read more As the spotlight falls, once again, on 'problematic youth' serious questions have been raised about how to deal with them. Immediate responses have inevitably turned to justice-based measures, such as increased use of police stop and search and harsher punishment for offenders to deter others. Other suggestions have included removing free bus passes and neighbourhood curfews. Evidence around the effectiveness of such measures is, however, severely lacking. Research has shown that focused stop and search activity in 'hot spot' areas can have short-term benefits, albeit the longer term effects are less certain and there is a risk of shifting the problem to other, neighbouring, areas. The evidence around using harsher punishments as a deterrent, quite frankly, doesn't stack up. While removing free bus passes and driving children off our streets will simply penalise the vast majority of young people who are law abiding and a credit to our society. There is no one universal explanation as to why Scotland experienced such a large fall in violence in recent decades. Some have placed the plaudits at the door of the police and, in particular, the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), which was established in 2005 to tackle the problem of knife crime and homicide. The VRU certainly changed the narrative around violence in Scotland, recognising that it was a 'public health' problem that needed to be addressed by tackling the root causes. Most research evidence shows, however, that better education, rather than policing, is the key to reducing violence, and there has also been a great deal of educational work in Scottish schools and communities by organisations such as No Knives Better Lives and Medics Against Violence. The Scottish Tories have called for the police to be given more stop and search powers (Image: free) More widely however, there has been a policy shift since the election of the SNP government in 2007, when the introduction of the Getting It Right for Every Child policy started to shift the language from 'problematic children' towards 'child wellbeing'. Since then, we have seen a whole raft of new policies aimed at improving children's outcomes, such as reducing child poverty, narrowing the education gap, earlier and more effective intervention, and reducing the reliance on justice responses to offending. As a consequence, the number of children entering the justice system is at a record low and we no longer send children to prison in Scotland. And yet, we cannot ignore the recent headlines nor minimise the significant impact of youth violence on those who fall victim to it. So, despite all the progress made, what has gone wrong? Recent research shows that, while great strides have been made, there are still many children who are exposed to a whole range of factors that increase their likelihood of engaging in violence and other crimes. Despite the Scottish Government's targets, persistent child poverty has not diminished. The cost of living crisis is affecting many low income households – especially those with children – creating strain and diminishing the capacity of parents to monitor their children's activities. Housing and homelessness are acute problems, and some communities are subject to significant churn and change which destabilise neighbourhoods and reduce the scope for self-governance. The education gap between those at the highest and lowest ends of the deprivation spectrum has not narrowed. Rates of mental health and neurodiversity diagnoses have increased, but levels of service provision cannot keep up. Negative social media influences run rampant in the lives of our young people, but 'safe spaces' in communities where they could be supported and mentored by people in the real world have been stripped away as a consequence of austerity. Lurking below all of this, is the spectre of serious and organised crime. Many children who carry weapons and get involved in serious violence are victims of exploitation at the hands of criminal gangs who use them to deal and transport drugs and other illicit items. Their youth and vulnerability make them perfect agents to do the dirty work of those who sit back and reap the rewards. Read more In some regards, it is not unusual to see such a spike in violence during periods of good weather when young people congregate on beaches and other beauty spots towards the end of the academic year. However, a cluster of very serious incidents, along with rising concern about anti-social behaviour in communities and schools, is a worrying trend. We should be reassured that Scotland has the structures and mechanisms in place to deal with such incidents in a sensitive, holistic, and trauma-informed way. However, whether it has the capacity and resource to do so is another matter. A policing response is inevitably required to dampen down the immediate issues and to tackle the scourge of serious and organised crime; however, as a society, we all have a part to play in making society safer. A collective response is needed from public and third sector organisations to ensure early and effective intervention amongst those whose behaviour is at risk of escalating into serious violence. The private sector could play a greater role in supporting and investing in our most deprived communities, and partner with local government in sponsoring the return of youth facilities and safe spaces for children and young people. And the general public should not tolerate or be bystanders to violence, ignoring or walking away when we could take steps to discourage, prevent or even, when safe to do so, intervene. Let us remember that the vast majority of children in Scotland are good, law-abiding citizens who contribute positively to society – with a holistic approach, we can surely turn the tide on the small minority who are causing serious harm, just as we did 20 years ago. Susan McVie is Professor of Quantitative Criminology, University of Edinburgh
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Mayor invests £1m in sports during holidays to reduce youth crime
The mayor of London has announced a £1m year-long investment into sports activities during school holidays, in an attempt to divert youngsters from Sadiq Khan's funding will start at Easter and support almost 2,000 Londoners at up to 20 community-led projects, working in partnership with his Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).It follows a similar initiative last year, when research from the mayor's office for policing and crime found violence affecting young people traditionally peaks in the Metropolitan Police confirmed last week that budget shortfalls mean 1,700 officers, PCSOs and staff posts will be cut, including officers stationed in schools. 'Invest in prevention' According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the mayor said prevention and positive opportunities would be more effective than trying to "arrest the way out of this issue".Last year, the mayor announced a £2m investment package in activities which he said would divert thousands of young people away from violence over the summer Sadiq's office said the funding would provide internships for young people at major sporting organisations such as the Lawn Tennis Association, GB Snowsport and Formula E. 'Preventable, not inevitable' Alongside funding for holiday provision, the LDRS said the mayor's investment in sport over the next year would support a further 1,000 young people who may struggle with the transition from primary to secondary school, by providing them with access to a trusted director Lib Peck said sport and physical activity play "hugely important roles", providing opportunities to develop skills, teamwork and access to positive role models in coaches and youth added that providing positive activities for young people "is critical to tackling violence and whilst our work is having impact, it's clear there is more to do. "We're committed to working in partnership across London to keep young people safe because we believe violence is preventable, not inevitable."
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- The Guardian
Teenagers excluded from school ‘twice as likely' to commit serious violence
Teenagers who are permanently excluded from school are twice as likely to commit serious violence within a year of their expulsion than those who were merely suspended, a large-scale new analysis of police and education records has shown. London's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), set up to tackle the number of teenagers dying as a result of knife crime in the capital, said the new research is the first direct evidence of 'a clear link between children being excluded from school and involvement in violence'. It will lend new weight to calls by youth charities, lawyers and other experts for schools to rein in the soaring numbers of exclusions. Government data released in November last year revealed that there were 4,200 permanent exclusions in the autumn term 2023-24, an increase of more than a third on the same term the year before. The study, published in the British Journal of Criminology by researchers at Hull University and Bristol University, followed more than 20,000 young people who were excluded from secondary school, using their education and police records. They were matched with a second set of 20,000 children chosen because they had the same educational experience, ethnicity and social background, and had been suspended the same number of times but, crucially, were never excluded. The researchers found that within a year the excluded children were more than twice as likely to commit serious violent crime than their peers who were on the same path towards being thrown out but were not excluded. In the excluded group there were 990 serious violence offences and 20 murders or 'near-misses' in the 12 months following the exclusion compared to 500 serious violence offences and fewer than 10 murders in the group which avoided exclusion. Lib Peck, the director of the VRU, said: 'For the first time, this new research provides evidence of what we have long known: there is a clear link between children being excluded from school and involvement in violence.' She added that what struck her most was that the results didn't show young people getting involved in violence some years down the line, 'but in fact almost immediately after having been excluded'. Supporters of firm discipline in education argue that with behaviour problems spiralling since the pandemic, exclusion is an essential tool. Tom Rogers, a history teacher and director of Teachers Talk Radio, said that exclusion was a necessary tool when 'extreme behaviour' threatened teachers as well as pupils. 'There is too much focus on supporting perpetrators rather than victims here,' he said. 'There are 30 children in each class who could be negatively impacted by the instigator of violence, bullying or abuse. These other children need protection.' Peck admitted that some exclusions will always be necessary to keep pupils and teachers safe but said more should be done to support these children to stay in school. Government data shows children on free school meals, black-Caribbean children and those with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) are among those significantly more likely to be permanently excluded. Iain Brennan, professor of criminology at Hull, who co-authored the research, said: 'If you are excluded and no longer in well-supervised education, who are you hanging out with during the day? The opportunities for being exploited increase, and how you see yourself is also likely to change.' He added that teachers he spoke to frequently told him that 'the writing was on the wall' long before a child was excluded, with external issues including domestic violence and poverty contributing to worsening behaviour at school. 'If a teacher is managing a class of 30 and has limited resources and time, it's often easier to rely on behaviour policy rather than trying to work out how to include and help that child.' However, he warned that failing to rein in exclusions risked 'letting down the most vulnerable and traumatised children' as well as potentially creating victims of crime and 'heaping pressure on prisons'. Kiran Gill, CEO of The Difference, a charity set up to tackle the social injustice of lost learning, called on the government and schools to 'sit up and take notice' of this new research. She warned that pupil referral units, designed to provide alternative education for children who have been excluded from mainstream school, are having to turn away children across the country because they are already full, and many councils are not meeting the legal requirement to find a place in education for children within six days. 'That means these children are at home, or worse, on the streets,' she said. 'Teachers might think that if they permanently exclude a child they will get more support than they can access in mainstream school, but this research shows that is often not the case.' Gill warned that children were not only more likely to be criminally exploited outside school but also to spend much more time on their phone, where they might be influenced by extreme ideologies. Kate Aubrey-Johnson, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers in London, who co-founded the School Inclusion Project, a group of 200 lawyers offering pro bono support to children facing exclusion, said: 'These statistics are shocking but sadly come as no surprise. Any criminal lawyer knows this to be a stark reality for children.' She added: 'The vast majority of children are excluded from school for relatively low-level disruptive behaviour that too often arises from unmet needs relating to Send.' She said that excluded children typically become isolated and lose self-esteem, making them an easy target for gangs. 'They lose hope that they have a future worth living for.'
The Independent
02-03-2025
- The Independent
Inside the classroom trying to steer London's children away from a life of crime
In a north London classroom, three girls tentatively raise their hand. Each, aged 13 and 14, has just admitted that they have already been targeted by criminals trying to groom them into so-called 'county lines' drug dealing gangs. None of them is ready to share the full details of their encounter with the recruiters, which typically include knives, threats against their families or playground tricks which see children targeted by bullies, only to be saved by an influential gang member who will take them under their wing. The three girls make up almost a third of the class at the hard-hitting after-school workshop, where expert mentors try to steer at-risk children away from a life of exploitation, knife crime and gangs. It is possible that other children in the room, not yet prepared to admit it, have also been targeted or have friends who have 'gone country' and found themselves trapped in a dangerous criminal underworld, where child drug runners are 'debt bonded' or intimidated into compliance. Most caught in this cycle of criminality carry knives to protect themselves and drop out of school, frequently going missing as they work from properties that have been ''cuckoo'd' – when gangs take over a vulnerable person's home to sell drugs. But through early intervention sessions designed to challenge negative behaviours using creative arts and motivational strategies, the teens are taught key skills and conflict resolution in a bid to turn them away from violence. During the crucial after-school hours, in which vulnerable youngsters are at the highest risk of being exploited or falling into crime, they meet with The Safety Box for workshops funded by London's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). The children chant affirmations of 'shift, adjust, rise above it' as they are taken through a series of scenarios, including practical exercises in what to do when someone threatens you with a knife on the bus. The tactics – seen as part of a public health approach to tackling knife crime – are delivering results, as experts call for the government to invest more in addressing the root causes of youth violence as they battle to halve knife crime in a decade. Last month shocking figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that the number of children murdered with knives has soared by 240 per cent in the past ten years. In the same week, the government announced a raft of new measures to crack down on knife sales under 'Ronan's Law', including tougher punishments of up to two years in prison for selling knives to under 18s. Those who groom children into county lines drug dealing could also be jailed for up to 10 years in separate new legislation announced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday, with 'cuckooing' also set to be outlawed with offenders facing up to five years inside. Meanwhile, the government is still considering proposals, first mooted by actor and knife crime campaigner Idris Elba, for all kitchen knives to have rounded ends. While the measures are welcome, Lib Peck, the director of London's VRU, called for the conversation to be refocussed on preventing violence, rather than responding to it. The capital's VRU was founded by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in 2019 to coordinate a multiagency approach to early intervention, collaborating with police, education and healthcare providers, local councils, youth workers and parents. Later that year, the Home Office backed the scheme and established 17 other VRUs across the country. 'I think the most important thing is to recalibrate the conversation so we are talking much more about what are the long-term causes, what are the drivers of violence, and what we're doing to make sure that we're putting as much emphasis and as much investment into prevention as we possibly can,' Ms Peck told The Independent, adding that reinvesting a fraction of the £3 million spent on dealing with violence in London every day on prevention would 'go so much further'. Their work has already reaped rewards, with eight in ten schools reporting increased attendance and improved behaviour after the VRU put mentors in pupil referral units for excluded children. They have also embedded youth workers in hospitals and police custody suites, with 90 per cent of under 18s they engage with not going on to reoffend within 12 months. Nathaniel Peat, 45, founded the The Safety Box 18 years ago. It has worked with almost 30,000 young people in the past five years with a team of staff trained in cognitive behavioural therapy and life-coaching, 80 per cent of which are ex-offenders themselves. Their real-life experience of criminal justice combined with key mentoring skills make them 'one of the most powerful tools we can use,', Mr Peat said. Hudson,17, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, hit rock bottom and was looking at serious jail time after he was arrested with an illegal zombie knife and £2000 worth of Class A drugs. But he turned his life around after 13 months of intensive wrap-around support with one of their mentors. While Hudson was living at this grandmother's house wearing a monitoring tag, the team were the only people allowed to take him out during proscribed hours. He had started selling drugs to make money when his brother was charged with attempted murder and soon found himself in a cycle of arrests and reoffending. He was so high risk, no care home would take him. 90 per cent 'I started realising it's not as good as what I thought,' he told The Independent. 'The people I was on for they were just trying to set me up. 'If they [Safety Box] had never been in my life I would probably be in jail right now. I was getting arrested every other month and that. And now they intervened they showed me that's not what your life needs to be about.' He said his mentor took him to places he had never seen before – even a trip to watch his beloved Manchester United play as incentive. 'And they're just like, look, this is what you can do if you just stop hanging around people like that, and showed me basically the good side of life that I've never seen before,' he added. Michael, also 17, said he felt 'like he had nothing to lose' when he started selling drugs to make money. He has lost two friends to knife crime but is now focussed on building his career as a rapper with the support of a Safety Box mentor after he was charged with theft and grievous bodily harm. However, without more funding, they are struggling to nurture his musical talent. Michael called for the conversation around knife crime to change, saying tactics like tougher sentencing make no difference. 'I think they need to have a different approach towards knife crime,' he told The Independent. 'As a young person, me growing up in the street and having to fear for my life just for being from an area is don't really give me that option to put knives down. 'It starts from one person carrying a knife. Then another person out of fear. Then it just carries on.' More about County lines knife crime London
