‘Stand up and stamp down on gun crime murders’ event

Report: 10
Date: 24 April 2003
By: Clerk

Summary

As part of its annual calendar of consultation events, the Consultation Committee held its first public meeting on gun crimes on Friday 28 February 2003. This report provides an analysis of that event for learning for future public meetings co-ordinated by the MPA.

A. Recommendation

That the committee note the report and the actions arising from the event.

B. Supporting information

1. The gun crimes public meeting was organised at a time when there was heightened publicity about the issue. There were therefore a number of organisations, locally and nationally, who were similarly holding meetings on the issue. The event was originally planned to be held in one of the Trident boroughs. However, the Chair of the MPA proposed that this should be a more high-profile London-wide event.

2. The GLA and Home Office were in the process of organising a pan-London event and it is to the credit of the partnership working between organisations that the decision was taken to pool resources into planning and organising a single event and ensuring that the most senior Government representative, with direct responsibility for criminal justice matters, could participate in the event.

3. Participants and speakers were drawn from those who had contributed to other MPA events as well as new individuals. Members may wish to note that some presenters chose to be represented at the MPA event rather than other local events to which they had been invited.

4. For this event the partnership was successful not only externally but also internally and with the MPS, whose Independent Advisory Group co-ordinator provided extremely useful help and support in disseminating the information about the event and taking on the responsibility to brief the MPS speaker, Commander Brown, whose presentation was highly praised by those attending.

5. Both the Chair of the Authority and MPA officers worked through a range of networks to see that the event was publicised. For example, community radio disc jockeys such as Doctor X of Galaxy Radio and others were used. Rap artists, poets, entertainers and others were also contacted to take part in the programme. This was a marked change to the way the MPA has previously directly engaged with a range of diverse contacts and it proved relatively successful.

6. There were also a number of individuals and organisations, including faith leaders, who would have liked to be involved in the programme. However, this could not be accommodated. The popularity of the event made it difficult to accommodate everyone who wished to be involved, and more thoughtful consideration will need to be given to the planning of similar events.

7. A few organisations and local groups and communities who the MPA would have otherwise engaged in the event, were understandably reluctant to be seen to be promoting and publicising the meeting, especially where this may have had a detrimental effect on attendance at their own event. Some groups expressed disappointment that the event was held on a Friday evening, thus barring certain religious communities from attending. This will need to be taken into consideration in the organisation of future high profile events.

8. Attendance – there were approximately 125 attendees at the event. Over 35% were young people or those who were speaking on behalf of young people who had been involved or experienced problems with gun crimes.

Issues raised

9. The overwhelming view of those in attendance was that gun crime was a social issue and not just a policing matter. The role of the government’s education department attracted a high level of attention and the government representative undertook to represent the views of the public to the Department for Education and Skills.

Next steps

10. The results of this event will inform the MPA scrutiny of gun crime, which will be chaired by Cindy Butts, Chair of this Committee.

Informing policing priorities

11. The summary of the consultation event will be fed into the deliberations that are currently underway to inform policing priorities for 2004/05.

C. Equality and diversity implications

Gun crimes negatively affect the black and minority ethnic community. The outcomes of the consultation will inform further work in this area and the event has highlighted important issues concerning the Authority’s engagement with groups and communities that are traditionally disengaged from mainstream consultation on sensitive policing issues such as gun crimes.

D. Financial implications

The costs of the event to the MPA were contained within existing budgets.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Julia Smith, MPA.

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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