UK unveils new youth crime measures

Concern growing over alarming levels of knife crime

Professionals in the health sector, education, police service, and other walks of life in the United Kingdom will be required to report any warning signs they spot to help tackle the problem of youth violence.

On Monday, UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid launched a consultation to ensure public bodies, including hospitals, raise concerns about children at risk of becoming involved in knife crime.

The Home Office proposal is called a public health duty, and is designed to ensure that every part of the social system works together to support young people and makes targeted interventions before they commit violence or are groomed by gangs.

“The public health, multi-agency approach has a proven track record and I’m confident that making it a legal duty will help stop this senseless violence and create long-term change,”Javid said.

The proposal came as Prime Minister Theresa May hosted a summit to tackle knife crime, which will also introduce this multi-agency response to violent crime.

“To bring about lasting change and protect young people from the tragic violence we have seen on our streets, we need to work across society to intervene early and stop them from being drawn into crime,”she said.

“This week’s summit in Downing Street is focused on ensuring everyone coming into contact with young people—from the police, health, education, local authorities and voluntary sector—work better together to make targeted interventions and steer them away from violence.”

Backed up by legislation, professionals in fields including law enforcement, health, the voluntary sector and education will attend the summit, as well as young people with experience of living in communities impacted by serious violence, to share their insights.

It comes amid evidence from south London, one of the areas worst affected by knife crime, that attackers have been increasingly targeting faces, heads and necks with weapons including kitchen knives, samurai swords, machetes and even nail guns.

The number of stab wounds to the face and head and neck areas of victims increased by 50 percent between 2015 and 2017. Young males made up the majority of patients, but the number of young women is increasing too, according to King’s College Hospital.

On Sunday, Javid also said he will reduce the level of police authorization required to impose the controversial Section 60 stop and search tactic, meaning 3,000 more officers will be able to deploy the power.

Section 60 orders allow officers to search anyone in a designated area if serious violence is anticipated. In addition, the degree of certainty required by the authorizing officer is to be reduced so they must reasonably believe an incident involving serious violence“may”, rather than“will”, occur.