Sharp rise in knife and gun attacks outside London as austerity bites
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Version 0 of 1. New violence reduction unit seeks to tackle spiralling crisis in the West Midlands. But is it too little, too late? Across the West Midlands, violent crime has become unnervingly common. Despite knife crime in the capital making the headlines, it has risen by 103% since 2014 in this region compared with 48% in London, with 14 knife crimes a day so far this year often targeting children of school age. Meanwhile, gun crime is up by a third in the West Midlands, and murder, GBH and other violent crimes increased by 17% in the last year alone. In London, the rises were about 10% and 6% year-on-year, respectively. Police forces in the region believe some of the recent spates of violence in the region, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry, were due to rival gangs battling over territory to sell drugs, with falls in the price of heroin and cocaine leading gangs to attempt expansion to increase profits, sparking turf wars. They also point towards a wider climate of fear that compels many to carry knives, often with deadly consequences, while noting the erosion of public services amid austerity and deepening poverty. To tackle the causes of the rising violence and stop it before it starts, police, health, local government, education and the private sector teamed up to create a new violence reduction unit. It mirrors similar schemes in Glasgow and, more recently, London. “Violence is a public health issue,” said Dr Sue Ibbotson, Public Health England’s director for the West Midlands, at its launch in Wolverhampton in October. “It causes physical and mental ill health, has its roots in adversity, and limits the chances of our children and young people. Violence is not inevitable.” The VRU will fund two violence prevention mentoring experts to work in secondary schools, while people who have shown signs of domestic abuse in GP services will be offered greater help to encourage early intervention, youth workers will be placed in A&E departments, and there will be a host of schemes to keep youngsters busy during school holidays. But with swingeing cuts to youth, schools and drug treatment services in the region, which many claim have contributed to the rising number of stabbings, as elsewhere in the UK, critics say the VRU’s £4m funding is too little, too late. “It’s no coincidence that violence has risen at a time when the resources available to the police, councils, schools and others has been cut back,” says David Jamieson, the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands, and a former Labour MP. “West Midlands police has lost more than 2,000 officers since 2010. Services that prevent violence happening in the first place have also been shut down.” In Wolverhampton, all 12 of its youth centres closed following dramatic reductions to youth services spending of 91% since 2014. A new club, The Way, was established in the middle of the city but has been criticised for lacking grassroots support. Visitors have to pay a nominal fee for each visit, and it is claimed that a local gang does not take kindly to teens from other postcodes stepping on their turf. “Every young person I speak to who carries a knife says they do so for protection,” says Alison Cope, whose son Joshua Ribera – one of the UK’s most promising young rappers at the time – was stabbed to death in Birmingham in 2013. “We need to be addressing what they’re actually scared of.” Cope, who campaigns to raise awareness about the causes of rising knife crime and possible solutions, is frustrated about the lack of support for young people in critical need – particularly with increasing exclusions from underfunded schools . “If I were to come across a child in one of my talks who disclosed to me they were a knife carrier, or were in a gang, and I was to try to get them help, I would not know who could support them,” she says. “When a young person is struggling, it’s better to guide and support them than to push them away.” While the VRU – which grew out of a commission on gangs and violence – is perhaps the beginning of a united response, many believe that the millions of pounds on offer for selling drugs will continue to corrupt communities. In Park Village, a mile outside the centre of the city, lies a shrine to 24-year-old year old Dwaine Haughton by a garage next to a block of social homes. He was killed in what police described as a “calculated and premeditated execution” in 2018 when a stolen grey Audi with false number plates containing four young men pulled up next to the car he was in and shot him in the face and shoulder. The disadvantaged area where the gangland murder took place is known to be a central hub for buying drugs, where violence is used to maintain reputations, solve disputes and protect territory when debts go unpaid, or outsiders make unwelcome visits, sparking tit-for-tat attacks that risk people being caught in the crossfire. Although the reasons behind the attack that led to his death remain unknown, with the deletion of CCTV hampering the investigation, four men were sentenced to a total of 94 years over his death on Friday after DNA tests linked some of them to weapons thought to have been used in the attack. “Life opportunities can be limited around here and poverty lures people into dealing to survive,” says Sunny Dhadley, a former addict who is now a consultant after founding a local charity, Suit, which helps people access drugs and alcohol treatment. “You can earn over £1,000 a day dealing drugs, but we never find out who the real people profiting from this are. The ones who face the consequences are poorer, vulnerable people.” The gangs and violence commission report found “crucial links” between the black market for illicit substances and serious violence, and much of the rising violence is blamed locally on disputes between gangs, many of whom deal drugs, increasingly being settled with guns and knives. After historic failures to reduce demand and restrict supply, there are calls to decriminalise substance use – and even legally regulate the supply of drugs – but with an election on 12 December, politicians will be talking tough on law and order without giving young people more opportunities, and there are fears no end is in sight to the serious violence blighting their communities. “There’s always hope, but youth violence needs dramatic attention immediately,” says 17-year-old Neeco Chambers, a volunteer with InPower Academy who teaches martial arts and boxing to instil resilience in children and help keep them off the streets. “Take youngsters into clubs and teach them sports, show them local people making music, encourage them to learn a trade,” insists the trainee plumber, who grew up in the Wolverhampton suburb of Pendeford. “You have to be offered opportunities and provided with mentoring at schools. All you need to see is a way out.” |