Police are planning to map gangs across the whole of Scotland from Wick to Dumfries in the next four weeks as part of a nationwide crackdown on youth disorder.
Police are planning to map gangs across the whole of Scotland from Wick to Dumfries in the next four weeks as part of a nationwide crackdown on youth disorder.
All eight forces will be working on the scheme to allow officers to collate a detailed understanding of how many gangs there are across the country, and how best to tackle them.
The month-long initiative forms part of an ongoing campaign co-ordinated by the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). It will address a range of problems including gang violence, football hooliganism and general public disorder through a combination of enforcement, attitudinal change programmes and diversionary activities.
Within Strathclyde, there are some 170 gangs, 100 of which are known to be in Glasgow. The VRU and the force has worked to identify gang members and boundaries, and this will now be extended across Scotland to rural and urban areas.
"We are looking to map the full extent of gang and group disorder across Scotland," said Chief Inspector Cameron Cavin, anti-violence campaign co-ordinator.
"We need to know how it affects different communities and look at solutions across the country. There will be different issues to tackle in the east end of Glasgow as compared to a rural community in the north of Scotland. We want to identify the bigger picture - where they are and the reasons behind gang involvement in different areas." The aim is to reduce group-fuelled violence occurring in public areas at peak times such as Friday and Saturday nights.
There will be increased high-visibility patrols, stop searches to look for knives and other weapons, targeting those selling alcohol to underage drinkers, and intelligence gathering within secondary schools using campus officers.
Forces will also be targeting gang members on social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook to let them know that police are aware of their involvement.
This final phase will also consolidate work carried out in the knives and alcohol phases of the campaign. Mr Cavin said: "Group disorder isn't just gang violence, it is any form of violence committed by people acting together, be that in an organised or spontaneous manner. We know this kind of violence tends to occur at certain peak times, in certain places.
"It makes people afraid to go out and can restrict and damage communities. Our aim with this phase of the anti-violence campaign is to make forces across Scotland more effective at tackling this problem as it occurs and, more importantly, preventing it before it occurs. We are committed to tackling these issues and making our streets safer for everyone. No-one should feel afraid to walk down their own road."
Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill added: "This is exactly the kind of tough enforcement that can help make our streets and communities safer.
"High-visibility patrols and targeting known offenders are proven tactics that can help combat group disorder and help us reclaim public space - bad behaviour and violence will not be tolerated."
