‘Stopping Violence Takes Care Workers, Not Police’

The detective leading Scotland’s battle against violent crime yesterday said he would rather have extra professionals from the caring sector than more frontline police officers.

Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, one of the country’s most hardened crime-fighters, believes health visitors, social workers, and teachers can do more to achieve a long-term reduction in murders and assaults than the extra “bobbies on the beat” being demanded ahead of May’s parliamentary election.

Mr Carnochan, who heads the nationwide Violence Reduction Unit, said only sustained investment in early intervention in troubled families could turn round Scotland’s culture of violence  “If you were to ask should we have 1000 more cops or should we have 1000 more health visitors, I would say health visitors,” he said last night. “I am not saying more cops wouldn’t have a short-term effect. But for the long-term sustainable reduction in violence, the health visitors would do more good.”

Mr Carnochan’s views are in stark contrast to the position of major political parties. Labour has boasted of raising police numbers to record highs, and the SNP has promised to recruit an extra 1000 officers if it wins the election.

Demands for more police come after every headline on violent crime. This weekend alone, a 15-year-old boy died in London and three men were stabbed to death in Manchester.

The latest victim in London, was named yesterday as Adam Regis. He was the nephew of former Olympic athlete John Regis, and a relation of former footballer Cyrille Regis. Adam was stabbed in the leg and in other parts of his body. Police are hunting for two men, wearning hoods, who were seen hurrying from the scene.

Scotland is far from immune from the violence. The typical murder north of the border is carried out by a young man aged between 15 and 21 armed with a knife or other bladed weapon. His victim is, typically, a young man. A recent study found that 40 men and one woman under 21 had been killed with knives in Strathclyde alone in an 18-month period of 2005 and 2006.

In Scotland, violent crime fell in the last year for which figures were available, 2005-2006. However, figures for homicides vary widely from year to year and early indications are that they are up again, at least in Strathclyde.

The Violence Reduction Unit, initially set up for Strathclyde two years ago and extended to the rest of the country last year, was never designed as a quick fix. It has led several major hard-hitting initiatives, including last year’s Scotland-wide knife amnesty, which took 12,500 blades off the streets.

But Mr Carnochan’s team has also been developing a deeper understanding of violent behaviour which has led them to look more closely at “early years initiatives” to turn round the culture of violence.

Today, the unit opens new fronts in its campaign: the home and the school. It is distributing 400,000 leaflets on good parenting to children at every primary school in the country. Mr Carnochan is determined to get over the message that there are better ways of resolving problems than violence.

Kathleen Marshall, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, said: “If we want a peaceful society, we need to teach children, by word and example, that violence is not a good way of solving problems. Peaceful families will make everyone happier and will also help lead to more peaceful communities.”