Whitehall officials have leapt to the aid of local authorities blighted by gang violence by proposing a new law allowing councils to restrict the movement of gang members around localities.
Home secretary, Jacqui Smith, announced on 5 February details of plans to add anti-gang restrictions to the Policing and Crime Bill currently working its way through Parliament.
The amendment would allow councils and police authorities to impose injunctions preventing known gang members from entering specified areas of cities, from associating with other gang members and from wearing gang ‘colours’.
Mrs Smith said: ‘Injunctions will ensure we are on the front foot in tackling gangs and able to deliver swift control during periods of high tension.’
The change in law will overturn a court ruling last October, which prevented Birmingham City Council from using injunctions against 30 local gang members, including members of the infamous ‘Burger bar boys’ and ‘Johnson crew’.
Fierce rivalry between the two gangs led to a series of murders in the city – including the shootings of teenagers Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare – and forced local leaders to explore the use of injunctions to prevent the situation worsening.
Injunctions successfully reduced gang violence in Birmingham, but were challenged by lawyers because they required a lower burden of proof than anti-social behaviour orders. The Court of Appeal rejected their use at the expense of ASBOs, but the Home Office’s latest proposals would allow councils to use such injunctions legitimately.
Assistant chief constable of West Midlands Police, Suzette Davenport, said: ‘By disrupting the gang members’ ability to meet up and enter certain parts of the city, we are able to more effectively control behaviour.’
Protecting the public realm without shutting it down
As Martyn's Law approaches, this free special report from LocalGov and Hill & Smith sets out how councils can protect public spaces without shutting them down.
