Put criminal cash to help poorest

London’s deprived areas suffer higher rates of crime. That’s been a historical fact for some time now and is routinely accepted by most politicians. In these areas, many including huge council estates, the quality of life is poor, unemployment particularly youth unemployment is criminally high, rates of health and well being are very poor and violent gang activity is on the rise.

London is witnessing a huge escalation in violent crime. The Guardian recently reported that in London violent knife crime injuries for the 13-24 age group are up a whopping 30% Drug related crime is also up and with the economy on the slide we can expect to this situation deteriorate further.

Today the BBC reports the publication of a Government report indicating that over £1 billion was confiscated from criminals last year. Police estimates are that potentially organised crime could cost the UK economy as much as £30 billion per year.

I have always argued and did so effectively while a Mayoral Advisor that high crime areas should have the confiscated assets of criminals returned to them in full enabling them to fund local anti crime initiatives.

In 2006 I was partially successful in convincing the previous government to do just that. After much lobbying Ken Livingstone and I were able to convince Government to established a two-year pilot scheme that returned just a measly 30% of this criminal cash to local areas. This resulted in over £12 million pounds being returned to London alone.

The Community Cashback fund helped to make a real difference to people's lives up and down the country. The cash provided much needed funding for crime diversion schemes, drug awareness programmes, restoring a vandalised play area or helping launch a youth club.

Rather disappointingly the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service behaved disgracefully and demanded that they should get some of this cash to increase their confiscated asset capability. Out of £12 million only around £600,000 was eventually given to communities through the Safer London Foundation.

The Home Office's Asset Recovery Incentive Scheme as it was then called saw more than 50% of the money recovered repaid to agencies including the police, courts, Crown Prosecution Service, Serious Organised Crime Agency and HM Revenue and Customs. At the end of the two-year pilot the scheme was shelved.

The current cuts to local authority spending, the slashing of public services, closed access to education and employment will only aggravate what is already a deep social crisis in many of these areas.

These are symbolic pressure cooker areas already crime hotspots have just had the heat turned up underneath them.

The consequences of the closure of youth services, community centres, libraries, sports facilities and the like will be profound for our poorest communities. As a result we can reasonably expect that these areas of high crime and deprivation will see increased rates of serious violence of all kinds, increases in the size and scale of open drug markets and a consequent rise in organised and disorganized criminal activity.

If we are not to be simply engulfed by a crime wave we need to counter that trend. I believe we need new radical initiatives that help tip the balance in favor of the majority of law abiding residents in these areas that are forced to live with the awful consequences of high rates of crime particularly violence and drug related crime.

SACRYD a new strategic anti violence initiatives demanding that Government stop pimping of high crime communities and hand 100% of the criminal cash back. The drug cash from Brixton drug dealers who make life hell for local residents should be reinvested back into anti crime community initiatives in Brixton. The benefits would be enormous for all concerned.

Firstly of course cash strapped community initiatives would receive much need funds. Secondly, demonstrating that criminals will have their houses, cash, cars and businesses stripped from them, the profits of the sale of which would be invested in local services, could attack the powerfully seductive glamorisation of crime.

We would argue that a public auction of these assets could be one way in turning these role model gangsters into figures of ridicule.

Thirdly we could raise levels of trust and confidence by demonstrating to hard pressed crime communities that the criminal justice system is on their side. In my view it a win-win for all concerned politicians, police and communities the only people who are losing out are the bad guys.

SACRYD is seeking your support for a London Day of Action against violent crime. One of our demand’s is that politicians including the candidates for the London Mayoral elections and the Prime Minister commit to introducing this important initiative alongside the adoption of a community led preventative Public Health violence reduction policy.

We believe that at a time when resources are tight the return of criminal confiscated assets could at virtually no cost to the tax payer provide a much needed life line to deprived communities struggling to cope with both the social and economic consequences of crime in their communities.

If you would like to know more about the campaign or get involved in our planned co-coordinated Day of Action against violence please contact me SACRYD Secretary Lee Jasper lee-jasper@live.com

Lee Jasper