Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

MARAUDING YOUNGSTERS

On Friday the three Plymouth MPs (half of my constituency is in the city) met with the excellent Chief Superintendent Morris Watts to discuss crime statistics. This is one of several regular meetings the three of us have with various local agencies to seek solutions to some of the challenges facing our city. I am all in favour of cross-party working.

It was no surprise to learn that although Plymouth police are doing very well in many areas, low-level violent crime is on the increase. Much of this is related to binge drinking and young people. It is one of the greatest social problems of our time.

As residents of Plympton, Plymstock and Ivybridge know only too well there are increasing groups of young people gathering together at evenings and weekends and getting drunk and making a darned nuisance of themselves. I am going out on patrol with the police shortly to see the full extent of this problem for myself.
Some may say that it was ever thus: young people hanging out on street corners, drinking too much and causing trouble.

Maybe, but there are three very real differences these days. First, the age of the troublemakers is getting much younger. Jan and I recently spoke to some of the pack of thirty or so youngsters on the Ridgeway at 10pm who were hanging around being rowdy. One admitted that she was very drunk (obvious anyway) that her parents did not know where she was or what she was doing and that she was only thirteen. Thirteen!

Secondly, binge drinking is becoming a huge problem and the levels of excessive drinking naturally lead on to more extreme behaviour. Third, the general decline in respect for others means that these marauding groups don’t really care who they upset or intimidate.

So what’s to be done? A whole range of remedies is being tried out from Acceptable Behaviour Contracts to Anti-social Behaviour Orders. The police are also considering a Dispersal Order to prevent certain young people from gathering in certain places. I am all in favour.

But what on earth are thirteen-year-olds doing regularly on our streets drunk and incapable? Where are the parents?
We can install more CCTV cameras, we can clog up the courts with young offenders, but unless we find more effective ways of going upstream and sorting out what is going wrong in our homes we are in for many more turbulent years ahead.

posted by Nigel on Monday, January 24, 2005