Gun and knife crime: you ask the questions
Hackney Citizen digital debate GE2010
Here is another test video
- It is worth noting that overall figures for crime in Hackney have dropped to their lowest level for 10 years. However, gun, knife and violent gang crime is still a huge issue.
Only yesterday (Sunday) I attended a memorial march on behalf of Godwin Lawson, a young man that was stabbed in Amhurst Park Road.
There has been progress made by the Labour government. We have increased the number of police officers on the street and introduced community support officers.
It is worth noting that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, wants to actually cut numbers of police in order to save money.
My government is also putting 5 million into youth work provision here in Hackney because we believe it is vital that young people are offered alternatives to just hanging around on the street.
I have worked for many years trying to encourage communities to co-operate with the police.
I have also tackled the issue of underachievement at school, which I believe lies behind so many young people's decision to join gangs - I believe that violent crime is related directly to levels of inequality and poverty - we can't seperate the two. If we want to deal with gun and knife crime, we need to deal with an economic and political system in which the rich are getting richer and the poor are often left behind.
Unlike the other parties, the Greens would use much more redistributive taxation to continue to fund public services which would otherwise be cut. Specifically, we would aim to double current investment in out of school services for each young person, from £98 per year to £200 per year, and invest significant new funding in creating 2000 new Young People's Centres.
A bit more information on my views on gun crime can be found here: mattsellwoodforhackney.blogspot.com - Obviously as Matt says the causes of this are complex but the effects are devastating. My own family has certainly been affected by this. Youth work, better policing, custodial sentences for possession of knives are all part of what we need to do. I think most of us would agree on that.
I would also like to start working in schools with potential gang members at a very young age. Yes I mean around 7 or 8 as I think its too late by the time kids get in to secondary school. We need to talk to even very young children about postcode wars and help them cross over certain areas.
A wider but contributing factor is also our illogical drug laws. The more we criminalise drugs the more criminals, dealers and turf wars we create. We really need some joined up thinking on drugs policy.
Suzanne Moore Independent - I'm going to be at something of a disadvantage in most of these discussions because I don't offer policy-specific guarantees or pledges. What I do offer is something more general, and more powerful - I offer to share my influence (including my vote) in Parliament with all the people of Hackney. If this issue is key to Hackney residents (as evidenced by polls and discussions on my website), then it will be something that I take up in Parliament - including but not limited to voting the way Hackney people tell me to vote on issues relating to crime.
That said, my personal viewpoint is entirely in line with that presented by Matt below - Hackney has one of the highest rates of poverty in the UK, and it has one of the highest rates of violent crime in the UK. That's not a coincidence. If you want to fix the crime levels, you have to fix the inequalities in society which are driving the crime - anything else comes too late.
To address a point made by Diane, I don't believe that crime is related to underachieving at school - I believe that underachieving at school is related to poverty, just as crime is. Recent research has shown that children from a low-income family are almost three times as likely to fail to achieve 5 good GCSE grades. To fix the school problem, as with the crime problem, we have to start by fixing the poverty problem. It's not easy, but it's the right solution, and possibly the only one that will actually work.
Denny de la Haye - Independent
getavote.org and hackneysouth.org.uk - Reducing gun and knife crime is my top priority for Hackney, if I am elected as an MP. In fact, I've written a whole series of points about this - to prevent such crime in the first place, not just pick up the pieces by chasing the criminals. You can see these at daveraval.com
- Hi
Gun and knife crime answer below.
Best
Darren Caplan
Conservative parliamentary candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
07956 820145 (m)
darren@hackneyconservatives.com
www.darrencaplan.com
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Gun and knife crime
Gun and knife crime is, in my opinion, the biggest concern for those who live and work in Hackney. It’s terrible to see young men, woman and children losing their lives on local streets, who have committed no offence other than to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – every parent is now worried their child will get caught up in a shooting or knife incident.
Firstly, I would assure readers that I would not play politics with this issue. All the parliamentary candidates in this election would, I believe, work assiduously with police, colleges, schools, young peoples’ organisations, third sector and other agencies to try to put an end to the madness.
Secondly, the Conservative have some distinctive policies in this area which I believe would make a difference. We would seek to reduce police paperwork so they can concentrate on policing and not bureaucracy. We would strengthen ‘stop and search powers’ to make it easier for the police to get weapons off the streets and make it clear that anyone caught carrying a knife or a gun can expect to be prosecuted and face a prison sentence. We would improve rehabilitation - for example, with dedicated Prison & Rehabilitation Trusts - to break the link between those who get involved in crime staying in crime. And we would introduce a National Citizen Service, funding the rollout of a programme to bring 16-year olds from different backgrounds together to carry out community activities and, hopefully, make it less likely that they would join violent gangs. - I must echo Matt Sellwood’s point that violent crime is related directly to levels of inequality and poverty. We need to deal with violent crime in Hackney urgently, so we need to deal with an economic and political system in which the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
The Greens would use much more redistributive taxation to bolster essential public services, instead of cutting them like the other Parties would. My aim for Hackney South, for example, is to provide round-the-clock activities for both young people –and their parents – in existing schools and community centres, providing sports, the arts, hobbies, skills learning and childcare. Investment in out of school services for each young person would be doubled, providing young people with something to do, a way to establish their talents, and a fulfilling outlet for the whole community.
Polly Lane
Green Party Candidate for Hackney South & Shoreditch - This is a difficult issue because it needs tackling in the round. The answer doesn't just come from how Hackney is policed, but through a range of measures. That said, one measure is in answer to this point by getting more police on the streets, paid for by scrapping pointless and expensive ID cards.
Another is to ensure that children get a fair start in life which is why the Lib Dems want to invest an additional £2.5 billion in schools, targeted at pupils that need it most. So much of people's lives hangs off getting a good education that this is one of those areas - one of the only areas in this economic crisis - that should be getting extra investment to these levels.
Appropriate sentencing of criminals is also part of the answer, and ensuring that we put in place properly funded community payback and restorative justice schemes for minor crimes rather than thinking the answer always lies in prison, almost regardless of the crime.
Also, putting in place a fairer, rebalanced society where people earning low incomes don't see it swallowed up by income tax will help ensure those living in relative poverty don't stay trapped there. It's why the Lib Dems want to scrap income tax on the first £10k people earn.
Support for initiatives such as Hackney Diamond are also essential - they provide a multi-agency approach to tackle youth reoffending and their success rates to date have been very good.
But I don't pretend to have all the answers and as said, the problems are difficult to tackle. - I am working with black church leaders to tackle the gun and knife crime issue head-on by asking them to support my initiative of a gun and knife amnesty. One less gun or knife on the street could be one life saved. It's only a small first step but it’s a step in the right direction. I'm not promising to do this if I am elected, I am doing it now!
Alessandra Williams - independent candidate, Hackney North and Stoke Newington alessandrawilliams.com - Gun and knife crime is exactly the type of issue that requires the approach that I am advocating in my manifesto. There is no easy, single solution. What is needed is action that will prevent youngsters from being led into committing crime in the first place, measures making it harder for crime to take place (such as the elimination of "no-go areas" in Hackney by improving the environment), measures improving the detection of crime and deterrent sentences combined with rehabilitation programmes for those who have been convicted. To be effective, we therefore need to bring together local and national politicians, the council, police, care and education bodies and organisations with a special knowledge or interest in the subject to work together so that each of their individual programmes and policies can be applied as a uniform whole.
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Diane Abbott
Polly Lane
Hackney Citizen
DaveRaval
Matt Sellwood
Darren Caplan
Keith Angus
getavote
suzanne moore
LindsayHermes
Geoffrey G J Payne
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