How should we save our streets?

What do you think should be done to save our streets?

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Comments

[wayne evers]

Im fed up with these cheeky kids who dont care about any body but themselfs.
they like to act like their mr big and think there as hard as nails.
maybe they should try going to work for a living and see how long they last in the real world.
I think its about time the goverment starting coming down harder on these little thugs.

[Mrs M Gardner]

What chance do we have when the law favours the criminals and not the victims.
Human right do gooders need to be locked up themselves .
Bring back discipline at school and give more authority to police.youths are running riot and left to do what they want to do as these A.S.B.O do not work the youth today thinks these are a big joke, They are like badges to them.I do agree with the name and shame act and the quicker they bring this in the better ,the law at the mo is unless they have been convicted you can not name thugs even though you know them you have caught them they have had these so called A.S.B.O'S unless they have gone to court and have been charged you can not name them. The law should be changed. Youths today should be tought a lesson in manners they have no respect for anyone. There are good kids out there but the majority just like to cause trouble and they think its a joke. These hooded thugs should be named and shamed weather they have been convicted or not. I am a mother myself and have three youths who have never been in trouble never been left to roam the streets one is a dental nurse one is in uni and also working the other still at school.
We are also been victims of gang youths at our home also on the streets.
These thugs should be thrown into a boot camp and made to stay there until they show respect instead of roaming the roads drinking and Causing havoc.

[carol martin]

ONE BIG THANK YOU TO THE NEWS OF THE WORLD IT JUST WHAT WE WANT TO GET THE STREETS SAFE AND GET SOMETHING DONE ABOUT US VICTIMS THANKS TO ALL U NEWS OF THE WORLD THAT WORKED SO HARD FOR US VICTOMS OF CRIME

A VERY DISTAUT MUM WHO LOST HER SON TO KNIFE CRIME

[Michelle Jeacock]

I was at the City Hall debate in London tonight and i would like to thank the News Of The World for the Save Our Streets roadshows that allow people affected by violent crime the chance to voice their opinions to influential members on the panel,victims and their families rarely have the opportunity to do this and we need to continue to have our voice heard.
It was a shame there was no one on the panel from the Govt.

[susanah]

lets start renaming hoodies as MARDIES cos that what we called boys who wore balaclavas or mittens when i went to school.ridicule them as being soft mamby pamby sissies.

[Francesco Sinibaldi]

At the first opportunity...

In this period,
and in its true
light, the sound
of a picture forgets
and emotion in
the care of a faith;
a candle reappears,
a delicate silence
remembers a river
and then, at the
first opportunity,
I'll love you my
darling.....

Francesco Sinibaldi

[Alan]

I’ve just watch some archive footage of Cherie Blair addressing a government select committee on knife crime and was astounded to see her talking about youngsters behaviour as if it something totally alien. She talked about youngsters not having the same perception of boundaries that grownups have, and that, to children, their idea of being accepted was being involved in a gang or having a criminal record. It even took research to discover this.

Are movers and shakers therefore really saying that they are so out of touch with youngster’s attitudes, they are truly aghast? Blimey, these youngsters live in the same communities as us. How do decision makers not know what young people are thinking or feeling? Talk to them. Spend time with them and understand them.

[jemma]

im 16 and i feel lucky that i dont know anyone who has had a friend/relative stabbed. i shouldnt have to feel 'lucky' none of my friends have been stabbed.
i play ps2 gun games but ive never ever considered carrying a knife around and never would. i guess the reason young people carry weapons is if you live in a really rough area you feel life you have to carry a knife to protect yourself against any other knife carryers, but then if noone carried weapons in the first place then the murder rate wouldnt be so ridiculusly high.
i think there should be way more stop and searches, the only people against these stop and searchs are the idiots who carry the weapons. im all for life for a life, its the only way young people will see the seriousness for their crime

[Sue]

There used to be a saying 'if you don't want to do the time don't do the crime', it was a good message, simple but concisely placing the responsibility with the perpetrator where it belonged, and it implied the time in prison would be relevant to the crime committed.

Unfortunately New Labour's message is 'if you want to do the crime but don't want to do the time just go ahead because you won't have to'.

I think the News of the World should tell Jacqui Smith to go away and only come back when she takes responsibility for her and her government's failings and actually puts in the tough measures needed to tackle violent crime.

[David H]

What a bloody cheek Jacqui Smith has. Because of her party's decision to implement human rights act and other ludicrous laws, there is basically no deterrent aginst crime. Jails are cushy and offer better living conditions than some areas of the UK. Its all very well blaiming judges for leniant sentences but they are only following laws set by the government. If Labour put as much time, effort and funds into stamping out knife crime, as it has into anti-racism, equal opportunitys for foreigners homosexuals etc,anti-smoking/alchohol and speed camera then maybe Britain would'nt resemble an African republic or South Central LA. Clearly time is running out for Labour already but after years of promising to listen to the public, Labour don't want to acknowledge that they have basically failed the UK on this issue amongst others and would rather carpet perceived racists, smoker, drivers, homophobes and any non left wing types. Mandatory 10 year sentences for carrying knives, in a tough prison would at least make people think twice about carrying knives. Pretty simple isn't it and i'm no rocket scientist!

[ben]

im a 53 year old man , during my school years i had the cane i had respect for my elders i feared the police i respected my parents, now days the minority of youths have no respect they have no fear of the police they have no respect for there parents,, i belive a curfew for youths up to the age of 17 would be the awnser a id card issued to youths from the age of 5 upwards to 17 these id cards to be logged at every police stations computer have holding containers so if there caught out after curfew there taken to these holding containers and there parents told to come and collect there kids ,, take away the childs benifit for a month if there caught out on the street , be damned with the human rights act forget asbos forget prisons ( unless theres been a stabbing) forget national service it wont work if any one saw bad lads army there was little respect there towards the officers in charge
the parents of these so called angels who run riot in the street should be made resonsable

[Tony Regan]

How dare she!!! How dare Jaqui Smith say she is commited to the SOS campaign! She is the root of this problem, She is denying that there is a problem and a knife culture. How dare she! She is a 2 face hypocrite just like the rest of the government!

[the coach]

carring knives, gun,etc,means only one thing, and it is not to protect yourself, you know what they can do if you use the weapon in question, you kill someone you know the intent was there when you carry, so i say untill this government sit down and think about the threat of the death pelenty been brought back no one will ever be able to do anything about this killing culture

[Sevgi Polat]

To be honest i really dont have much to say, the only thing i would say is thatthe reason, youths these days are causing so much trouble and doing bad thing to earn their money is because the dont get the opportunity to work they leave or get kicked out of college and thats it for them they get in to bad things e.g selling drugs, causing trouble if Gordon Brown wants the crime level to go down the he should help get jobs for these youths. once they get the opportunity to work and earn money im sure the crime level would go down, if youths dont get opportunity to work and gain experience how are the going to get experience to find a job to work. its not just for youths its mainly for everyone if you dont get the chance to work and learn practually then how else are you going to learn. i personally thing this issue should be raised and help these people to get the chance to work and earn money instead of selling drugs and geting in to trouble.

[Alan]

I apologise for posting twice on this matter, however, in the light of so many of those people affected by knife crime being absolutely desperate for answers to solving the problem, it is perhaps worth giving careful consideration to a simple philosophy: It is often a lot easier to change the things you can change than change the things you can’t.

For instance, giving whole life sentences or introducing the death penalty, won’t reduce offending if there isn’t a single country in the world where life sentences and death penalty reduces crime. Look at America!

Increasing stop and search powers by the police also will not halt knife as youngsters will merely find a way round the measures: Hiding weapons outdoors or paying someone to plant weapons in certain places doesn’t take much for youngsters to think of.

Bringing back old-fashioned “discipline” in the classroom and home has been mentioned too, nonetheless, it can’t really change anything because there will be an equal number of people in bygone days who did not receive discipline but did not commit crime. In other words, we assume that a good clip round the ear will force someone to change their ways, however, there will be an equal number of people who changed their ways without a good belting.

Conscription can’t work if you accept that morale in the armed forces has never been lower, while curfews merely punish parents who are already unable to cope with their children. If parents can’t cope then putting the fox in charge of the chickens serves only to make an already bad situation worse.

What can work, on the other hand, is accepting that there is only one person ultimately responsible for carrying a knife and that is the offender them self. Only the person carrying the knife can change their mindset to become a more responsible individual, and this change is happening in many small initiatives across the country. Youngsters involved in criminality are been taken under the wings of mentors who can give youngsters the confidence to think “differently” about their behaviour. It’s easy. Interested parents and volunteers can establish community groups and begin a dialogue with youngsters in a meaningful way which encourages youngster to feel part of the same community, not separate from it.

[John]

I recently placed bail conditions on 2 youths; at the time their parents believed them to be just what was needed -a curfew between 2100 - 0700 hrs, these kids (14-16)were part of agroup of 6 who broke into a house (not knowing the police were inside, dispite the car being outside!)

The parents are now fed up of having their little brats inside between the agreed times and are now complaining in order to have the conditions lifted.

I believe that people have a right not to be burgled! Ferral youths should have restrictions placed upon them if they cannot behave in a manner consistant with the norms of society.

Mum and Dad are now forced to supervise their child and they don't like it! Ha, like I care! as long as they are not out commiting crimes then I've done my little bit to help reduce the adverse effects there kids have on other.

The message I send is commit a crime in my area and if I can remand you then I will! if not expect very stringent bail conditions - villian don't like seeing me when they come into custody. if only the courts had a similar impact.

[bruce harris]

dear sir,
stop and search is a must,whether you are white, black,yellow, or green person ,if police feel that a person,or persons,are acting suspiciously,then stop and search--the police officer,will ask the person concerned,are you carrying a weapon? if so hand it over,l will confiscate the weapon,and l will take your personal details,if you are caught carrying a weapon a second time,you will go to prison,-or if the person says he is not carrying a weapon,the police officer will warn the person,that if he is searched and a weapon is found,then the person will be automatically arrested,and put in prison.it is so simple.
mr b harris
stevenage herts

[Lindsey Neil]

Knife crime these days is a disgrace! Earlier this year i lost the most precious thing i had in my life, my boyfriend and father of my unborn child Paul Gilbert. Lock them all up and throw away the key, the only life sentence is for the victims and there familys, they go to jail 15 years is life these days but our taxes pay for them to have 3 meals a day and freeview boxes! everything needs to be changed!

[lee davis]

Give us back the right to punish our kids, and put punishment back into schools,as a mum myself i do not smack my children but the threat of doin so is more than enough. This was brought about by the middle class do gooder's, that have probably not spent a whole week with there own kids due to home helps,this brilliant idea has made things how they are today,what chance have our youngster's got when we are bein punished because our kids will not go to school? our hands are tied, as for knife crime, my motto would be, " USE A KNIFE, GET LIFE" you would get a min 5 yr sentence if stopped carrying a gun, a knife can kill too, infact i think to use a knife is worse, to actually feel a knife punture somebody's body? and then to do it again and again is pure evil, you know exactly what your doin.

[Alan]

Absent fathers and family breakdowns are not the causes of knife crime if only one fifth of crimes are committed by youngsters (adults commit the other four fifths). Hence, statistically speaking, the more contact youngsters have with adults, the more, not less, likely they are to come across criminality. That’s simple.

Another aspect of social behaviour not often brought in to the equation when discussing knife crime, is how the relationship between family and family, neighbour and neighbour, public and their service providers and employee and employer has also broken down dramatically. Families often have little confidence in discussing problems they are experiencing, because, as research has shown, other family members sometimes think the cry for help may be to seek or attention or bring about unwanted public attention once the news gets out. Also, since the inception of local authority ‘anti-social behaviour units’ it has now become commonplace for neighbours to simply report children for the least bit thing -no wonder then that 80pc of complaints received are about children and not the four fifths of adults who commit crime. Children have become stigmatised and communities have thus become a breeding ground for hatred between neighbours. Over the last decade or so the public have therefore lost faith in local authorities and the police. This, while ‘partnership working’ (I do loath that piece of modern cant) has seen the morale of staff drop dramatically by constantly being subjected to change after change. There is no real partnership working in the true sense of the term, not least because communities as a whole have switched off to what decision makers and politicians are saying. The truth is that communities could not care less about what is happening, and that, I’m afraid, is the stark reality.

The only way forward I can see from my decades of working in the voluntary sector, is for decision makers to be begin a process of instilling a sense of confidence in communities that knife crime and the underlying social problems with be addressed in a more meaningful way. I note with great interest that David Cameron is saying that he wants to bring ‘responsibility’ back into to the heart of the family agenda, yet is short on words about how this might be achieved. Please tell me how this will be achieved? Can someone tell me how the process of encouraging everyone in communities to discuss this will take place?

[Donna McKearney]

I live in Beckton, east london. I've been at my address for over 14years, slowly over the years it's changed so much. Fights, Knives and even Shotings are happening down our street. The kids that come down here have NO RESPECT, they spit, or swear at a lot of the residents. Some people will not walk down our road. I unfortunatly put sole blame on the parants, most of them are to lazy to keep them in control. They need to take control of there kids, i have 3 boys age 21,19 and 14. They Dont smoke, and have NEVER been in trouble with the police,ive got them to be open with me and ive been open with them. I have been strict with them but its worked. I use to be able to go anywhere safely, but now i can't!!!. The goverment REALLY needs to sort something out.

[M MACKEY]

WHAT CHANCE HAVE WE GOT DRUG DEALERS ARE THE ROOT OF ALL OUR PROBLEMS THE GOVT CANT EVEN CONTROL DRUGS IN JAILS THEY LIVE IN EVERY STREET THE POLICE KNOW THEM BUT DO NOTHING THEY ARE KILLING AND MAKEING KIDS GO OFF THERE HEADS INSTEAD OF PAYING MILLIONS FOR HEALTHY EATING ANDSMOKEING GET RID OF THE DEALERS COME ON LIVE IN OUR WORLD ALL TONY AND JACK DONE FOR US WAS SEND YOUNG MEN TO WAR AND FLOOD SCOTLAND WITH IMAGRINTS TO BEG ON OUR STREETS AND SELL THE BIG ISSUE WE CANT GET A HOUSE BUT JACK TOLD US WE NEED THEM WERE IS JACK AND TONY NOW AFTER LEAVEING A LAWLESS SINKING SHIP HELP US NOW

[Bernadette]

I think we should bring all major cities to a standstill and reclaim our streets. I will happily forgo a days pay to march and show this government that we mean business. We need to show our strength in numbers and demand action.

[sara]

i also think that we should bring back national service and i dont mean send all the criminal to war, it should be all young men once they have left school/college if they have no job to go to then they go into the army. and stop dishing out dole money to people who are fit to work make them do street cleaning or something stop giving all the money away. and stop letting imigrants in we have too many now and they should not be entitled to free money and houses and healthcare.... if we went to their country we dont get anything free. its all part of the reason why this country is in the state it is today. i would love to take my young family and emigrate but i cant afford to, im scared for the future and what it holds for my children.. i just hopes that the goverment actually does something here..

[sara]

oh my god alot needs to change, fist of all bring back discipline in schools and i mean being caned or whatever, at the minute teachers have no control and no respect in schools cause kids think they are in charge and they know that teachers cant touch them so they give it the big i am i know i did too and i know that if there was caning in schools when i was there i definately would have listened more and maybe left school with some qualifications instead of messing around all the time. also change our pathetic prisons, people dont mind going to prison in this country as there is nothing to be scared of, great gyms, tv's playstations great are prisons are.. that needs to stop take a leaf and out thailand and thats how our prisons should be you should be very scared to go to prison. gorget human rights as soon as someone commits such a violent or disgusting crime there human rights should be forgot about, simple as that. and forget building more prisons just bring back capital punishment and kill and the cold blooded killers and peodophiles as these people are no good in society. if you know 100% that they have done the crime then hang them, and all these little thugs who do petty crimes flog them with bamboo sticks like they do abroad. id go to the market square on a sunday and watch that with pleasure and im sure it would deter younger kids. come on england we are far too soft on our unruley kids and criminals. and lets forget about age as well if they are old enough to do the crime then they are old enough
to do the time and that means treat them like an abult if they think they want to play with the big boys. its time to get tough.....