Tackling gangs is top priority, says West Midlands Police chief
Stopping young people falling into the clutches of gangs as the region emerges from lockdown will be top priority for police, says Sir David Thompson.
The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police said tackling violent crime was "top of the pile of priorities" post-Covid.
He said he was concerned about the "shocking" nature of some of the violence young people were involved in and vowed to task new officers with confronting the issue head on.
It comes as the Home Office granted the force another £3 million to help tackle violent crime.
Violent crime went up by more than a fifth in the West Midlands in the year up to September 2020, a period where most other types of crime fell drastically due to lockdown measures.
Sir David said he had serious concerns that with young people having been out of school, more of them would get involved in crime including county lines drug dealing.
He told the Express & Star: "There is a danger of young people drifting into the world of gangs.
"A lot of the extra officers were are receiving in the uplift will be going into serious organised crime exploitation and local teams, specifically to tackle that.
Conflict
"It's a long-term challenge. The bit that worries me is the scale of some of the violence we have seen involving young people.
"It is shocking. It's a UK issue and there are some broader societal issues about how young men in particular deal with conflict."
Sir David said the force's Violence Reduction Unit, which aims to intervene in young people's lives before they join gangs – would play a major role in reducing violence.
He said officers were involved in "unseen" work to target gangs on social media, which he said was "fuelling a generation that is constantly online".
"It carries on 24 hours a day and there is a real worry about the lack of alternative options for young people," he added.
"We need to arrest the criminals and put them before the courts, but there are complexities that go beyond policing.
"Young people have had the hardest time through all of this and the impact on them has been dramatic.
"We have all got to reflect how young people get a bit of a kickstart and assistance through this.
"In particular, we have to make sure we reach some of the most vulnerable young people, because we can't afford to have a lost generation in terms of skills and qualifications and employment.
"When that happens it creates a crime risk."
