Project cuts down gang violence

A SCHEME to tackle gangs has almost halved the level of violent offending.

Latest figures from the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) show violent offending by those who signed up to the project had reduced by 46 per cent.

The project, set up by the joint police and government body the Violence Reduction Unit, started in the east end of Glasgow in 2008 and was extended to the north side of the city in 2009. To date, 400 gang members have signed up.

Chief Inspector Robert Stevenson, who works in CIRV, said the project appeared to be twice as effective as other attempts to tackle gang violence.

He said: "What we do is offer the gang members a choice. We say to them, you be in a gang if you like, if that's your support network and that's where your friends are, but if you continue to cause harm to one another and cause harm to your communities then we know who you are, we know who you fight with and we know what weapons you're carrying, and we will do everything we can to put you away from the community for a significant period of time.

"But here's a choice. Currently you are unemployable the way you are living your life. Come and work with us.

"We'll put you through personal development and employability programmes in the hope that in the long term you'll get a stable employed lifestyle."