Walking Tall, Not Driving By

17 Dec 2007

House Magazine

This summer saw a deluge of press reports on the “gun crime catastrophe” currently enveloping our capital city. And there is no denying that there have been some shocking and upsetting incidences of gun crime in the past months. Since January, 25 under 18 year-olds have been shot or stabbed to death in London alone. As the mother of a teenage boy living in Hackney I find these incidents as frightening as anybody else. However, the problem must also be put into context. One shooting of a teenager is one too many but the media do have a tendency to sensationalise the gun crime issue.

The truth of the matter is that gun crime rates in London are nowhere near as high as in American cities. In the UK this year 58 people have been murdered where a firearm has been involved. Compare that to the situation in the US where in 2005 4,000 murders involving firearms were committed. Boroughs such as Hackney, whilst still showing some of the highest levels of gun crime in London, have seen a reduction in the number of firearms offences in the past year – a drop of over 15% was reported in 2007.

When gun crime is reported it is made out as if every incidence involves a shooting or a murder. But the statistics reveal that in 72% of firearms offences the weapon was not fired. The slant the media takes when it is reporting on gun crime is in many ways aimed at sensationalising the issue, at presenting statistics to give the impression that Britain is under siege from gun crime. In truth the government have already taken various firm measures against gun crime. The Firearms (Amendment) Act 1997 introduced a central register of all the people applying for firearms certificates and those in possession of a certificate. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 saw it an offence to carry an imitation firearm in public, as well as making it an offence to sell such a weapon to an under 18 year-old. After 2004, there has been a minimum five-year sentence for those convicted of possessing an illegal firearm. In addition to these law enforcement measures, the government has been keen to show that they are encouraging debate around the issue by holding a number of gun and knife crime summits as well as heading up ad campaigns discouraging young people from getting involved in these kinds of criminal activity.

However, key voices in the world of criminology and youth work have pointed out that tougher legislation can only get us so far. There needs to now be a focus on changing the social and economic issues underpinning the problem of crime in London. There is evidence to suggest that more young people are becoming attracted to the criminal economy as a way of making a place for themselves in a society that can appear hostile towards them. That is why for me the most important step forward is to improve the educational opportunities that are open to our young people. This year alone I have organised a special conference in Hackney about black children in education and a further event around Turkish and Kurdish children in education as well as an awards ceremony for London’s top achieving black children. And last week I organised with ken, a fifth of a series of London-wide conferences looking at black children and education underachievement. It was attended by over 1500 people.  It is well-known that children who are excluded from school are drastically more likely to end up falling into crime instead of further education or employment. What I would like to see, and have been campaigning for, are improvements in the way that young people can engage with education and training but also more resources for activities and facilities for young people. It sounds obvious but giving young people alternatives is the best way to ensure they do not get involved in crime.



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