H&F gets Government grant to tackle youth crime
Hammersmith and Fulham is one of a handful of local authorities in London to be offered a Government grant to tackle youth crime.
The money is being handed over as part of the £100m Youth Crime Action Plan, a scheme which aims to reduce the numbers of youngsters involved in crime.
The funds will be used to set up after-school police patrols, to support families whose children are likely to get into trouble, to intervene early to prevent young people becoming involved in crime in the first place, and to help young people who have been in trouble to rebuild their lives.
H&F Councillor Greg Smith, cabinet member for crime and anti-social behaviour, said the extra money was very welcome: "The council is pleased to be offered new funds that will help us to continue to reduce youth crime. This money will help us to develop a range of activities including after-school patrols and special outreach services to engage young people and stop them getting in trouble.
"We will consider with schools, the police and young people themselves what will make the most impact on our local needs. An initial grant of £65,000 will allow us to get plans in place very quickly."
Local resident Simon Ludgate, who lives near Askew Road, says he has repeatedly been a victim of crime and vandalism. He says he recently saw his scooter being deliberately knocked over by a teenager, resulting in hundreds of pounds’ worth of damage.
“We have a generation of half-wits who think it’s okay to do this sort of thing. He has caused £750 worth of damage for two seconds of mindless fun to impress his friends,” he said.
Two years ago, Ludgate installed eight video cameras around his W12 house: “I bought the cameras because I was fed up with people dealing crack outside my house, urinating on my front door,threatening my wife and children and pulling knives on me,” he said.
He said local youngsters were a particular problem: “You have parents who live round here who have no clue where their children are or what they’re doing but the gang thing seems to me to be a substitute for family life and provides protection. This subculture of people who feel alienated and separated from regular society is a really big problem and is making increasing inroads in this area, as far as I can see living here,” he said.
The Government’s Youth Crime Action Plan aims to cut the number of 10 to 17-year-olds entering the criminal justice system by 20% over the next two years.
Other London boroughs that qualify for the funding include Tower Hamlets, Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Southwark, Haringey, Camden, Newham and Lewisham.
24 September 2008