Lib Dem Plans to tackle crime
We are fully on board with our Local Bath MP Don Foster who has welcomed the new Liberal Democrat plans to tackle youth crime, and has backed local groups who are already making a difference.
Here in Twerton we have had many problems over the years with youth disturbances and we need all the help that we can get to help resolve the issues of youth crime.
Don said, “We need to give young people positive alternatives to do. Too often they get into trouble because there is nothing for them to do. The Youth Volunteer Force will be a great way to get young people involved in activities that benefit themselves and the area where they live.
“I am also keen to ensure that those who do break the law or cause disturbances or vandalism have to pay back the community they have wronged.
“That is why restorative justice is important. It will mean that those convicted of offences will have to work on cleaning up vandalism or on projects that benefit communities as part of their punishment. It also helps young people better understand how they have affected their community,
“Here in Bath we are lucky to have seen work start on restorative justice, both through the police and through the Children’s Society. Their work is very important and is beginning to yield positive results. The communities they are working with are really seeing the benefit. But we need to be able to spread these principles to more areas.”
The plans aim to deter crime and get young people involved in positive activities that benefit local communities. They include:
- The creation of a Youth Volunteer Force, to engage with young people, involve them in community projects and give them skills to benefit them in later life;
- Establish Community Justice Panels across the country, where offenders admit their guilt to the community and agree on a Positive Behaviour Order as a course of action;
- Create a dedicated PCSO youth officer within every Safer Neighbourhood Team to identify and work with teenagers most at risk of offending;
- 10,000 more police on the streets by scrapping the ID cards scheme;
- Intelligence-led stop and search and 'hot spot policing' targeted at gun and knife crime;
- Restorative justice programs to be run in every community, specifically targeted at early intervention with widespread use in schools and care homes.
Comments: 1
: 0
1) Research shows that where people do not have repeated contact with others in people networks, ethical behaviour breaks down. The decline in community spirit and cohesion is therefore a factor contributing to anti-social behaviour in general. This point was recognised in Bristol at Easton, where residents recommended community events and projects as one of the solutions. I'm not saying that perpertrators of anti-social behaviour are not accountable for their actions. But like it or not, those residents who complain about youth problems but do nothing to support their community are involved with part of the cause of the problem.
2) The actions of youths sometimes affect older generations adversely. Noise nuisance from gangs is one example. Then again, the young will be the ones who inherit a 'dead' community - if we allow it to die. Our actions, or rather our lack of action and interest in our community, will affect them too. When I conducted a survey of 313 people in Twerton, more than half could not tell you even one thing the church does in the community (Rose Cottage cafe, day group, children's and teenage groups etc), or one thing that the Time Bank does (Food Coop, skills sharing, gardening team etc). One person said, "I just live here, that's all". Ironically, it is often the young people who 'do community' the best e.g. when they get together in groups and talk in the park.
Community regeneration as a whole is part of the solution and that requires people power - residents coming together and working on ways to increase cohesion and interaction in their area. Street parties have been one successful idea in Bristol at Knowle West. Merely turning up at PACT meetings and raising issues is good but it won't be enough...
For all categories