Report to the People
3rd April 2006
Curing
the Violence Virus
Last week’s major violence
reduction conference in Glasgow saw 300 delegates from across Scotland coming
together to kick-start the Safer Scotland campaign.
The
message they heard from head of Strathclyde Police’s Violence Reduction Unit,
Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, was the same as he delivered on
his recent visit to Greenock: only properly coordinated action on all fronts
will cure Scotland’s culture of so-called “recreational violence”.
The
question isn’t so much what to do when someone commits an act of violence, but
how we stop them becoming violent in the first place. How do we address the conditions - deprivation, a violent
family background, poor education, a lack of ambition - in which the violence
virus thrives?
This
approach isn’t about making excuses for violence, it’s about stopping it.
And it’s not about doing favours for criminals, it’s about building
better living environments for everyone.
A good example took place in
Belville Street on the same day as the Glasgow conference.
Deputy Justice Minister, Hugh Henry, was meeting local youngsters to hear
how they want money seized from drug dealers invested in their area.
Ploughing ill-gotten gains
into new community facilities doesn’t just stop the next generation hanging
around street corners and getting into trouble. It helps restore some of our faith in the justice system and
improves residents’ overall quality of life.
The drive towards safer
communities demands that we all - government, councils, agencies and communities
- put something in. But we’ll all
reap the rewards too.
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