Wave an ASBO at them!

This week the Taxpayers Alliance reported on an increase in youth crime.

Rather, they reported that the number of persistent young offenders in England and Wales had increased from 9,868 in 1997 to 16,512 in 2007. A persistent young offender is one aged between 10 and 17 who has been sentenced by any criminal court in the UK on three or more occasions.

So in eleven years the number of such offenders has increased by 67%.

When you add to this the number of young people in our large cities but especially in London, who have been killed by other young people, and even adults who have suffered at juvenile hands as well, it is easy to explain the perception of people.

Mealy mouthed politicians who spout about a reduction in crime, on the small technical offences which police use to bolster conviction rates, do nothing to convince.

Many, and not just older people who feel their frailty, are hesitant to go out on to the streets at certain times of day. Gangs of young people have gained controlled. While much of their aggression may be directed against other youth gangs, the fact remains that their presence, their willingness to indulge in alcohol and drugs and their need to obtain money by theft, have blighted the lives of so many families.

Family failure has led to educational failure and now to social failure. There is a deep-seated malaise in our society which passing laws has done nothing to relieve. When an ASBO is regarded as a badge by some offenders, any successful solution must go much deeper.