Teenage gangs can be defeated, eventually

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - It may take time, but the scourge of teenage gangs and the violence they have brought to the streets of London can be beaten if intense work at a local level gets the right backing, according to one expert.

Jonathon Toy, a founder of the London Gangs, Guns and Weapons Forum, said tough policing measures need to be backed up by "fantastic" projects" that help individuals escape the gang lifestyle.

"We're talking really about trying to develop social change, that it's not cool to carry a weapon, it's not cool to carry out retribution against other people," he told Reuters in an interview.

"If we are going to do that social change, we are talking about a long, five-year plus programme. We need to get behind that if we are going to make a really big impact and not just talk about the next serious incident that takes place."

Politicians and police have been wrestling with how to deal with knife crime on the back of a series of increasingly regular reports of teenagers stabbed or gunned down in the street.

The government has launched a series of adverts, showing the harsh realities of stabbings. Ministers have already promised to get tough with greater police use of stop and search powers and tougher sentences for those caught with knives.

A crackdown by police in London, where teenagers in areas face being searched without officers needing to have reasonable suspicion, led to the seizure of almost 200 weapons and more than 200 people being arrested.

So why are teenagers carrying weapons? Toy, head of community safety and enforcement for the London borough of Southwark, said much of the problem revolves around territory and "respect".