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STV News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- STV News
Council leader calls for action to tackle 'new wave' of youth violence
Glasgow City Council is being urged to look at how it can tackle a 'new wave' of youth violence following the death of Kory McCrimmon. Recent incidents of violence involving young people in Glasgow and elsewhere across Scotland have led to the deaths of 16-year-old Kory, 15-year-old Amen Teklay, and 16-year-old Kayden Moy. Now, council leader Susan Aitken has put forward a motion to full council calling for more detail on what work is being done to tackle youth violence. In her motion, Cllr Aitken said there was 'deep concern about recent incidents of violence involving young people in Glasgow' and that it was 'enormously worrying for our communities.' She said these 'deep concerns about the emergence of a new wave of youth violence require a re-energised response by all agencies to tackle generational challenges in the lives of our city's young people, along with a fresh approach to new challenges that they face in the social media age.' She also highlighted the challenges that modern life can pose to young people, including pressure around body image, self-worth, and ideologies through social media. The motion also raises the impact of the Covid pandemic response on today's children and young people, saying lockdown led to 'a loss of life opportunities and learning taken for granted by previous generations'. The motion reads: 'Council understands that the vast majority of young people are not involved in violence and do not carry weapons, but believes that the increasing vulnerability of some to becoming drawn into violent behaviour requires urgent work to understand the reasons behind this and develop early, effective responses. 'Council understands that well-established protocols are in place to ensure swift multi-agency co-operation following a major incident and acknowledges that officers from the Council and HSCP have already been working closely with Police Scotland. 'Council further acknowledges the wide range of existing multi-agency interventions taking place in communities across Glasgow with and for young people, whether led by the Council family, community planning partners such as Police Scotland, or by third sector and community-led organisations.' Cllr Aitken's motion also mentions the importance of youth work on the streets and in neighbourhoods. It acknowledges and welcomes the activism of community groups, such as Parents Against Knives, led by the parents of Kory McCrimmon. They recently hosted a rally in response to the spate of fatal stabbings. The Scottish Government has also announced an increased level of funding for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) of £1.2m. The motion continues: 'Council recalls the terrible statistics related to violence and knife crime that led to the creation of the VRU in 2005; commends its excellent and well-studied work on the prevention of gang violence; and believes that many young people are alive today because of their pioneering interventions and the 'public health policing' approach adopted in Scotland. 'Council recognises both that the recent incidences of violence involving young people are not of the scale experienced 20 years ago and that the current context is different and more complex, but believes that the lessons learned then about evidence-based approaches, multi-agency co-operation and early intervention remain applicable today.' If the motion is approved, the council will instruct the chief executive to bring an updated paper to the committee after recess, detailing the discussions and actions officers have already undertaken in response to specific recent incidents of violence. The paper should outline the existing work carried out by the council family or organisations funded through the council with young people in communities, and particularly young people at risk of becoming involved in violence. It will make recommendations to councillors on ways in which existing funding streams could be used to extend and enhance ongoing youth work carried out by the council or in partnership with others. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
The Wire
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Wire
Steelbird Helmets' launches ‘Mission Save Lives 2.0 India' at National Summit on VRU and Road Safety
New Road Safety Mission Aims to Save 38,000 Lives Annually with Real Helmets, AI Sensors, and Stricter Enforcement' New Delhi, June 13, 2025 — In a landmark move to address India's alarming road safety crisis, Mr. Rajeev Kapur, Managing Director of Steelbird Helmets, launched 'Mission Save Lives 2.0 India' at the National Summit on Vulnerable … Continue reading "Steelbird Helmets' launches 'Mission Save Lives 2.0 India' at National Summit on VRU and Road Safety"
The Herald Scotland
28-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Are we going back to days when Glasgow was murder capital of Europe?
So, in relative terms, such crimes are far less common than they were in Scotland's past. That will, however, be cold comfort to the families of those who have been the victim of such terrible crimes. Read more As the spotlight falls, once again, on 'problematic youth' serious questions have been raised about how to deal with them. Immediate responses have inevitably turned to justice-based measures, such as increased use of police stop and search and harsher punishment for offenders to deter others. Other suggestions have included removing free bus passes and neighbourhood curfews. Evidence around the effectiveness of such measures is, however, severely lacking. Research has shown that focused stop and search activity in 'hot spot' areas can have short-term benefits, albeit the longer term effects are less certain and there is a risk of shifting the problem to other, neighbouring, areas. The evidence around using harsher punishments as a deterrent, quite frankly, doesn't stack up. While removing free bus passes and driving children off our streets will simply penalise the vast majority of young people who are law abiding and a credit to our society. There is no one universal explanation as to why Scotland experienced such a large fall in violence in recent decades. Some have placed the plaudits at the door of the police and, in particular, the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), which was established in 2005 to tackle the problem of knife crime and homicide. The VRU certainly changed the narrative around violence in Scotland, recognising that it was a 'public health' problem that needed to be addressed by tackling the root causes. Most research evidence shows, however, that better education, rather than policing, is the key to reducing violence, and there has also been a great deal of educational work in Scottish schools and communities by organisations such as No Knives Better Lives and Medics Against Violence. The Scottish Tories have called for the police to be given more stop and search powers (Image: free) More widely however, there has been a policy shift since the election of the SNP government in 2007, when the introduction of the Getting It Right for Every Child policy started to shift the language from 'problematic children' towards 'child wellbeing'. Since then, we have seen a whole raft of new policies aimed at improving children's outcomes, such as reducing child poverty, narrowing the education gap, earlier and more effective intervention, and reducing the reliance on justice responses to offending. As a consequence, the number of children entering the justice system is at a record low and we no longer send children to prison in Scotland. And yet, we cannot ignore the recent headlines nor minimise the significant impact of youth violence on those who fall victim to it. So, despite all the progress made, what has gone wrong? Recent research shows that, while great strides have been made, there are still many children who are exposed to a whole range of factors that increase their likelihood of engaging in violence and other crimes. Despite the Scottish Government's targets, persistent child poverty has not diminished. The cost of living crisis is affecting many low income households – especially those with children – creating strain and diminishing the capacity of parents to monitor their children's activities. Housing and homelessness are acute problems, and some communities are subject to significant churn and change which destabilise neighbourhoods and reduce the scope for self-governance. The education gap between those at the highest and lowest ends of the deprivation spectrum has not narrowed. Rates of mental health and neurodiversity diagnoses have increased, but levels of service provision cannot keep up. Negative social media influences run rampant in the lives of our young people, but 'safe spaces' in communities where they could be supported and mentored by people in the real world have been stripped away as a consequence of austerity. Lurking below all of this, is the spectre of serious and organised crime. Many children who carry weapons and get involved in serious violence are victims of exploitation at the hands of criminal gangs who use them to deal and transport drugs and other illicit items. Their youth and vulnerability make them perfect agents to do the dirty work of those who sit back and reap the rewards. Read more In some regards, it is not unusual to see such a spike in violence during periods of good weather when young people congregate on beaches and other beauty spots towards the end of the academic year. However, a cluster of very serious incidents, along with rising concern about anti-social behaviour in communities and schools, is a worrying trend. We should be reassured that Scotland has the structures and mechanisms in place to deal with such incidents in a sensitive, holistic, and trauma-informed way. However, whether it has the capacity and resource to do so is another matter. A policing response is inevitably required to dampen down the immediate issues and to tackle the scourge of serious and organised crime; however, as a society, we all have a part to play in making society safer. A collective response is needed from public and third sector organisations to ensure early and effective intervention amongst those whose behaviour is at risk of escalating into serious violence. The private sector could play a greater role in supporting and investing in our most deprived communities, and partner with local government in sponsoring the return of youth facilities and safe spaces for children and young people. And the general public should not tolerate or be bystanders to violence, ignoring or walking away when we could take steps to discourage, prevent or even, when safe to do so, intervene. Let us remember that the vast majority of children in Scotland are good, law-abiding citizens who contribute positively to society – with a holistic approach, we can surely turn the tide on the small minority who are causing serious harm, just as we did 20 years ago. Susan McVie is Professor of Quantitative Criminology, University of Edinburgh
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Mayor invests £1m in sports during holidays to reduce youth crime
The mayor of London has announced a £1m year-long investment into sports activities during school holidays, in an attempt to divert youngsters from Sadiq Khan's funding will start at Easter and support almost 2,000 Londoners at up to 20 community-led projects, working in partnership with his Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).It follows a similar initiative last year, when research from the mayor's office for policing and crime found violence affecting young people traditionally peaks in the Metropolitan Police confirmed last week that budget shortfalls mean 1,700 officers, PCSOs and staff posts will be cut, including officers stationed in schools. 'Invest in prevention' According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), the mayor said prevention and positive opportunities would be more effective than trying to "arrest the way out of this issue".Last year, the mayor announced a £2m investment package in activities which he said would divert thousands of young people away from violence over the summer Sadiq's office said the funding would provide internships for young people at major sporting organisations such as the Lawn Tennis Association, GB Snowsport and Formula E. 'Preventable, not inevitable' Alongside funding for holiday provision, the LDRS said the mayor's investment in sport over the next year would support a further 1,000 young people who may struggle with the transition from primary to secondary school, by providing them with access to a trusted director Lib Peck said sport and physical activity play "hugely important roles", providing opportunities to develop skills, teamwork and access to positive role models in coaches and youth added that providing positive activities for young people "is critical to tackling violence and whilst our work is having impact, it's clear there is more to do. "We're committed to working in partnership across London to keep young people safe because we believe violence is preventable, not inevitable."
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- The Guardian
Teenagers excluded from school ‘twice as likely' to commit serious violence
Teenagers who are permanently excluded from school are twice as likely to commit serious violence within a year of their expulsion than those who were merely suspended, a large-scale new analysis of police and education records has shown. London's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), set up to tackle the number of teenagers dying as a result of knife crime in the capital, said the new research is the first direct evidence of 'a clear link between children being excluded from school and involvement in violence'. It will lend new weight to calls by youth charities, lawyers and other experts for schools to rein in the soaring numbers of exclusions. Government data released in November last year revealed that there were 4,200 permanent exclusions in the autumn term 2023-24, an increase of more than a third on the same term the year before. The study, published in the British Journal of Criminology by researchers at Hull University and Bristol University, followed more than 20,000 young people who were excluded from secondary school, using their education and police records. They were matched with a second set of 20,000 children chosen because they had the same educational experience, ethnicity and social background, and had been suspended the same number of times but, crucially, were never excluded. The researchers found that within a year the excluded children were more than twice as likely to commit serious violent crime than their peers who were on the same path towards being thrown out but were not excluded. In the excluded group there were 990 serious violence offences and 20 murders or 'near-misses' in the 12 months following the exclusion compared to 500 serious violence offences and fewer than 10 murders in the group which avoided exclusion. Lib Peck, the director of the VRU, said: 'For the first time, this new research provides evidence of what we have long known: there is a clear link between children being excluded from school and involvement in violence.' She added that what struck her most was that the results didn't show young people getting involved in violence some years down the line, 'but in fact almost immediately after having been excluded'. Supporters of firm discipline in education argue that with behaviour problems spiralling since the pandemic, exclusion is an essential tool. Tom Rogers, a history teacher and director of Teachers Talk Radio, said that exclusion was a necessary tool when 'extreme behaviour' threatened teachers as well as pupils. 'There is too much focus on supporting perpetrators rather than victims here,' he said. 'There are 30 children in each class who could be negatively impacted by the instigator of violence, bullying or abuse. These other children need protection.' Peck admitted that some exclusions will always be necessary to keep pupils and teachers safe but said more should be done to support these children to stay in school. Government data shows children on free school meals, black-Caribbean children and those with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) are among those significantly more likely to be permanently excluded. Iain Brennan, professor of criminology at Hull, who co-authored the research, said: 'If you are excluded and no longer in well-supervised education, who are you hanging out with during the day? The opportunities for being exploited increase, and how you see yourself is also likely to change.' He added that teachers he spoke to frequently told him that 'the writing was on the wall' long before a child was excluded, with external issues including domestic violence and poverty contributing to worsening behaviour at school. 'If a teacher is managing a class of 30 and has limited resources and time, it's often easier to rely on behaviour policy rather than trying to work out how to include and help that child.' However, he warned that failing to rein in exclusions risked 'letting down the most vulnerable and traumatised children' as well as potentially creating victims of crime and 'heaping pressure on prisons'. Kiran Gill, CEO of The Difference, a charity set up to tackle the social injustice of lost learning, called on the government and schools to 'sit up and take notice' of this new research. She warned that pupil referral units, designed to provide alternative education for children who have been excluded from mainstream school, are having to turn away children across the country because they are already full, and many councils are not meeting the legal requirement to find a place in education for children within six days. 'That means these children are at home, or worse, on the streets,' she said. 'Teachers might think that if they permanently exclude a child they will get more support than they can access in mainstream school, but this research shows that is often not the case.' Gill warned that children were not only more likely to be criminally exploited outside school but also to spend much more time on their phone, where they might be influenced by extreme ideologies. Kate Aubrey-Johnson, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers in London, who co-founded the School Inclusion Project, a group of 200 lawyers offering pro bono support to children facing exclusion, said: 'These statistics are shocking but sadly come as no surprise. Any criminal lawyer knows this to be a stark reality for children.' She added: 'The vast majority of children are excluded from school for relatively low-level disruptive behaviour that too often arises from unmet needs relating to Send.' She said that excluded children typically become isolated and lose self-esteem, making them an easy target for gangs. 'They lose hope that they have a future worth living for.'
