Cllr. Quinn calls on Government to adopt "Ceasefire" approach to Gang Crime
Issued : Friday 25 September, 2009
Areas : Dublin
Cllr. Oisín Quinn has called on the Government to adopt the 'Ceasefire' plan to tackle gang crime in Dublin. "We need to look at a wider and new approach to the challenge of dealing with people (usually young men) who are involved in gang crime. Some 60 cities in the United States and now Glasgow have had success adopting an approach called 'Ceasfire' pioneered by an American Professor called David Kennedy", said Cllr. Quinn.
"Cincinnati tried it and gang related homicides were halved in 2 years. You basically pull all your resources together and get an accurate picture of every member of these gangs. You then call them to a meeting and 'Tell them to Stop'. If anyone in a gang breaks ranks, you hit the whole gang hard. If they play ball, you work with them on getting jobs and training and so on - working with them to get them to re-engage with society and their local community. It sounds soft and idealistic, but it's not. And when it has been done properly - it works. That's why I have made a submission to the Government's White Paper on Crime calling on the Minister to look at this and pilot it in Dublin", said Cllr. Quinn.
See below for a full copy of Cllr. Quinn's submission:
Submission in respect of the White Paper on Crime.
OF CLLR. OISÍN QUINN, LABOUR PARTY
REPRSENTING PEMBROKE-RATHMINES
25th day of September, 2009.
One of the critical challenges facing our local communities is dealing with the extreme violence which gangs involved in the drug trade are willing to carry out.
In recent years we have seen how this violence has spilled beyond the killing and attacking of gang members to include the killing of bystanders and potential witnesses.
This type of crime as well as terrorising local communities and bringing devastation and heartbreak to the families and friends of the victims and deceased also represents a major criminal justice challenge by virtue of the fact that witnesses may be reluctant to come forward and the crimes are planned and therefore more difficult for the Gardai to prosecute when compared to other murders and killings which are usually not so clinically planned as a gang related “hit”.
There is a huge cost to society in dealing with this type of crime in terms of Gardai resources and the efforts of the prison system and the criminal justice system.
Co-ordinated programmes aimed at supporting families and parents in need of help with young children and through schools are vital to identify young children who maybe at risk of drifting into a life of crime.
By the time these children are in the juvenile courts there is already a mammoth task in terms of resources and help that needs to be deployed to help children and families in that situation.
A range of policies from endorsing pre- and after-school clubs, local community centres, social working, providing parenting skills, and the general task of reforming local authority housing are all part of dealing with this.
Equally there is a responsibility to deal with the situation as it exists now.
I believe there is a strong case for looking at a wider and new approach to the people usually young men who are involved in gang crime at the moment.
In my view the full range of information that is available on the ground through community Gardai and local Gardai, teachers, social workers and community activists must be tapped into in an integrated way to build accurate pictures of exactly the nature of each individual gang and its members so that this can then inform the coordinated response that needs to be delivered.
Needless to say there are plenty of cities around the world that have faced significantly greater challenges than the gang crime that now plagues Dublin (and to a degree Limerick).
I believe the time has come to now try the approach based on that pioneered by David Kennedy who is a professor in the anthropology department of John J. College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He has developed and helped cities introduce and apply his “Ceasefire” programme.
This programme recognises the fact that a small number of hardened criminals usually commit a hugely disproportionate number of serious violent crimes. Secondly much of this violence is caused by gang dynamics such as score settling, vendettas and turf issues.
The following is an extract from an article in the Guardian newspaper 29th July, 2009 (see link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/29/gangs-david-kennedy-glasgow-communities) about this approach.
“In April 2006, the Scottish executive joined forces with the Strathclyde-based VRU to create a national unit to reduce violence, after a UN report named Scotland as the most violent country in the developed world.
Between April 2006 and March 2007, more than half of the 73 murders reported in Strathclyde involved a knife, as did almost half of the 380 attempted murders; and out of 4,050 serious assaults reported, more than a quarter were knife-related.
Strathclyde has managed to unite public services – health, education and addiction services – behind one 0800 phone number that a gang member can call if he wants help to change his life. In Kennedy's experience, few call – but the offer is important so that no one can make the excuse that nobody gave them a chance.
Gang members are given the phone number during a powerful component of Kennedy's programme – the call-ins. In the US, gang members on parole or probation are compelled to attend a meeting in order to spread the message – stop, or suffer the consequences.
Kennedy says these meetings are also an opportunity to puncture the gang's ideas of respect and loyalty. Most know that if they are sent to prison their friends aren't there for them. "The code [of respect and loyalty] is nonsense. If you say the emperor has no clothes, it makes a huge difference."
McCluskey says there have been really positive signs in Strathclyde, with individual gang members completely changing their lives. Its unit has signed up 146 lads who said they had had enough and wanted out. "It's early days, but it's about the long term," she says. "Nobody in the UK is going to solve this in a year.”
The simplest distillation of his philosophy is that you “Tell them to stop”.
This has been tried in Glasgow and has achieved results.
I believe important lessons can be learned from this approach and that a programme should be developed to try it on a pilot basis in Dublin.
End.
Cllr. Oisín Quinn
Cllr 
