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  • 4 months ago
Panorama 2020 E25
Transcript
00:00Can you cut crime by being kinder to criminals?
00:06Cheers for coming.
00:07It's really good to see you.
00:08Thanks for having me.
00:09See you soon.
00:10Take care.
00:11Can you prevent violence by giving more help to troubled children?
00:14You alright?
00:15Yeah, it's just cold.
00:17Keep it.
00:18As the rest of the UK has struggled with rising levels of knife and gun crime,
00:23Scotland says its public health approach has dramatically reduced violence.
00:28You see a leopard cannae change its spots, but a leopard can change.
00:32If we can prevent the crime in the first place, we don't need to have all these victims.
00:36With cities like London and Birmingham now adopting this approach,
00:39Panorama's been given unique access to Scotland's violence reduction unit.
00:46I just want to know if this is something that happens more often than you'd like.
00:51Tonight on Panorama, I've come to Scotland to investigate
00:54what the public health approach really means and whether it really works.
01:14I was carrying a locked back knife daily for 11 years of age
01:19and drinking alcoholically for about 12 years of age.
01:23I spent my 16th birthday, my 18th birthday and my 21st in here.
01:27All I'd done was just violence with violence with violence.
01:31Running about the East End of Glasgow like a cutthroat pirate
01:34and just a pure lethal absence of hope in my life.
01:39I'm coming home one night and someone goes to walk in my path
01:44and I ended up getting stabbed nine times.
01:47So I got into A&E, I had a season ticket for it.
01:50Two people in pink t-shirts came out to see us.
01:52Two people in pink t-shirts came out to see A&E, right?
01:56One, you think you're tripping.
01:58Two, you know there are no coppers.
02:01And a guy knelt down beside my bed and he says to us,
02:04how you doing mate?
02:05I work for the navigator programme for the violence reduction unit.
02:09It's one of the first times I can ever remember somebody saying,
02:12can I help you with anything?
02:14The violence reduction unit, or VRU, is part of Police Scotland.
02:18Working in communities, hospitals and prisons,
02:21VRU projects try to prevent people getting trapped in a life of crime.
02:26For Callum, meeting the VRU's navigators team was a turning point.
02:30So I ended up speaking to the navigators about getting sober and recovery
02:34and all that and they pointed me in the right direction.
02:39Ninewells Hospital in Dundee,
02:41where navigators have just started to work in A&E.
02:46Can you kick the shit out of her?
02:48The navigators offer help and advice to people
02:51who've just been involved in violence.
02:54Do you want to kick your feet off?
02:56It's Saturday night.
02:57A man who's just been in a fight has been brought in by police.
03:02Navigators like Tam Begbie try to calm things down.
03:06He's ex-forcers.
03:07Having served in Afghanistan, he's used to defusing stressful situations.
03:13It's my job just to go around.
03:15Having a wee blend of wee folk who are coming in,
03:18a wee bit of distress.
03:19I remember getting kicked in the face,
03:21I remember getting bullied in the face,
03:23I remember trying to run.
03:24So this is just kind of wrong place, wrong time for you mate,
03:27is that what you're saying?
03:28100%.
03:29Once they're discharged,
03:31navigators can put patients in touch with services
03:34to help with things like employment, housing and mental health.
03:38What's it been like having navigators on your watch for the last few weeks?
03:42Do you know, they are able to do things that we can't do,
03:46we don't have that time.
03:47A wee bit of water.
03:49They're there to do it.
03:50They're very visible.
03:52With their pink shirts.
03:53You know, so yeah, I think that's a good thing.
03:55You see me lying in this bed like that,
03:58there will be in this bed twice as bad as me.
04:01Don't even think about the retaliation route at all mate,
04:04because you'll chuck absolutely everything you've got away.
04:07For me, it's the only way I can justify it.
04:10Have a real think about that because actions have got consequences.
04:14What you need to think about mate is your own future.
04:17I will do.
04:18I've got my card here, alright.
04:21We can maybe chat about some sensible decisions mate, eh?
04:25Thank you very much for being here.
04:27No problem at all mate, no problem at all.
04:29This man's not yet followed up Tam's offer of help,
04:32but a study found that patients who do engage
04:35are much less likely to come back to A&E,
04:38saving both NHS and police time.
04:42I'm sure there'll be people who will say,
04:45hang on a moment, they have a choice.
04:47Yeah.
04:49I don't choose.
04:50You know, I've had suffering in my life
04:52and I don't choose to go out and get rip-roaring drunk
04:54and end up in here.
04:55When it comes down to it, nobody chooses to be in these situations.
04:59Who chooses to be hurt or injured to the point
05:02where they need to come to hospital.
05:04We're offering them a level of support
05:06that they might never have had in their life at all, ever.
05:09In some people's cases, to be a wee voice of reason
05:13and partial to the situation
05:15and non-judgmental towards the reason that they're in the hospital
05:18is the difference between life or death.
05:21Like other VRU schemes, navigators focus on the causes of crime.
05:26But when the VRU was first set up 15 years ago,
05:29the priority was tougher policing.
05:34Blood on the pavement, a sight more common in Scotland
05:37than anywhere else in the developed world.
05:39That's according to a United Nations study
05:41which interviewed crime victims in 21 different countries.
05:45In 2005, there were 39 homicides in Glasgow alone.
05:50The police cracked down on the city's gangs
05:53with increased stop and search and tougher sentences.
05:56But then they decided to look at the causes as well.
06:00Karen McCluskey, former head of intelligence analysis
06:03for Strathclyde Police, was one of the founders of the VRU.
06:08There wasn't a police officer I met who actually said,
06:11we can fix this.
06:13They said, look, we can keep a lid on their port,
06:15we can absolutely arrest people, but that's not fixing it.
06:18We sort of really started to look at it like a public health issue,
06:21like a disease.
06:23Really? Violence was a disease?
06:25Well, it does. We started to look at how it was transmitted.
06:28You're brought up in an angry, aggressive home,
06:31so you almost become infected.
06:33And so we started to look at it,
06:35look at what the prevention looked like.
06:37This new public health approach
06:39seemed to be working in some American cities.
06:42Violence could be reduced, they hoped,
06:44by treating offenders with compassion
06:47and offering them more support.
06:49They said, look, you can phone this number 24 hours a day,
06:52365 days a year, and we'll be out to you within 24 hours,
06:56plan for you within seven days.
06:58And we were overwhelmed just by the amount of people
07:01who just said, I'm done, I've just had enough.
07:06In the next 14 years,
07:08homicide rates in Glasgow fell by more than two-thirds,
07:12from 39 in a year to 11.
07:16Soon, the VRU's public health approach
07:19was introduced in other organisations,
07:22including schools, social services and prisons.
07:27MUSIC PLAYS
07:30Polmont Young Offenders Institute, just outside Edinburgh.
07:36Since 2008, youth crime in Scotland has almost halved.
07:40These teenagers are a priority for the VRU.
07:53Since the Navigators stepped into Callum's life,
07:55he's become a mentor.
07:57His visits are part of a two-week course
07:59offered to all inmates here.
08:01I'll credit Callum for making the choice
08:04to turn his life around,
08:06and he would happily say that he needed support.
08:08I mean, I need support in my daily life, do you know what I mean?
08:10I'm meant to be a police officer, I'm meant to be an adult.
08:12I need support, we all do.
08:14Julie's a police officer who works inside Polmont
08:17to try to prepare these young men for life on the outside.
08:20What support would you be looking for on release?
08:24Maybe it needs more awareness and maybe more groups like that
08:27to help the guys have a structure and routine,
08:29something that gradually reinstates them back into community
08:32so they don't go back to what they were doing before.
08:36So far, around 300 young men have been through the course.
08:40Polmont says they re-offend much less than those who haven't,
08:44though the programme hasn't yet been independently evaluated.
08:49Can I come in and see you all?
08:51Rhys is nine months into a two-year sentence for knife crime.
08:55I stabbed somebody, so I was one of the lucky ones.
09:00In what sense?
09:02I didn't kill the person I stabbed.
09:04I could have put that knife a millimetre higher or lower or however,
09:07and it could have been the end of him
09:09and I could be looking instead of two years, 20.
09:13What were your circumstances at the time?
09:15I grew up in secure units and caring, things like that,
09:19so I'm familiar with this sort of environment.
09:22So my mum has been in prison all her life.
09:25I've seen my mum once since I've come in here
09:28and it was an inter-prison visit,
09:30so it was a visit with another prisoner.
09:32Rhys, that's so tough.
09:34Yeah, but it's true, isn't it?
09:37I still wake up every morning and I'm still behind bars.
09:40I still am reminded every day of what I've done.
09:42But what's Polmont given you then
09:44and all the help you've had from Julie and the team?
09:47It's changed my mindset on violence, on drugs, alcohol, even alcohol.
09:52Alcohol was my best friend, you know what I mean?
09:54Just to get rid of what's going on in there.
09:56So just everything, everything's changed.
10:02As inmates get closer to release,
10:04some get offered individual help by specialist police teams.
10:08How long's this you been in there?
10:1019 months.
10:1119 months you've been in here?
10:12It's a long time for me.
10:13Lindsay's been a police officer for 28 years.
10:17She works with Kevin, a former armed robber and heroin addict.
10:21They're part of Violent Offender Watch, or VOW,
10:24a police team trying to cut re-offending rates.
10:27Cheers for coming.
10:28Thanks for coming.
10:32Kevin and Lindsay are heading to Edinburgh
10:34to pick up 18-year-old Jordan, not his real name,
10:37who was released on bail from Polmont yesterday.
10:42So because he got released on a supervised bail,
10:46he has to adhere to conditions.
10:49One of these conditions is checking in with his social worker,
10:53and today he's late.
10:57Which is where Kevin and Lindsay step in.
11:01So we're going to take you up to your groundly court here.
11:05You'll probably want to just see for five minutes
11:07just to touch base with you.
11:09Jordan's bail conditions mean he's also on a curfew.
11:12He has to be home all night from 7pm.
11:19The team have found that intensive support in the first few days
11:23makes the biggest difference in cutting re-offending.
11:26After spending most of the day with Jordan,
11:28Kevin and Lindsay are taking him home.
11:31So when you bought this pizza tonight,
11:33you said you were getting juice.
11:35Is that alcohol-free?
11:37Aye.
11:38It's just the cost on it.
11:40Listen, you look after yourself.
11:42Right, look after yourself, pal, all right?
11:44I'll be in touch, pal, all right? I'll give you a phone, all right?
11:47Just as long as you let me receive the call.
11:49Hopefully what we've done today has took a bit of stress away,
11:53but within the next 72 hours, it could change.
12:04I hope he's had a good weekend.
12:06It's been two days.
12:08Kevin's trying to get in touch with Jordan.
12:11Phone's off.
12:13Phone's off.
12:15He's not answering his phone, so they decide to pay him a visit.
12:20How you doing, mate? All right?
12:22Cool.
12:24So how was the weekend? Did you get a pizza?
12:26Aye. Went for my first pint yesterday, too.
12:29Your first pint? How was that? Aye, it was all right, all right.
12:31Had a few games of pool and that.
12:33Was that your first legal pint? Aye, obviously.
12:36He's managed the first three days without breaching his curfew.
12:40Now Kevin and Lindsay want to help him get back on his feet.
12:43I'm going to go and get a pint.
12:45It's up to Jordan whether he stays in contact with Kevin and Lindsay.
12:49Unlike probation officers, they have no power to impose sanctions.
12:55Only around half of those approvings are going to be in the hands of the police.
12:59And that's a problem.
13:01I'm going to go and get a pint.
13:03I'm going to go and get a pint.
13:05I'm going to go and get a pint.
13:07I'm going to go and get a pint.
13:09I'm going to go and get a pint.
13:11I'm going to go and get a pint.
13:13Only around half of those approached by the VOW team sign up.
13:16But those who do consistently re-offend far less.
13:28What's unusual about the VOW project is that it teams up police officers with ex-prisoners.
13:34Something which initially caused its own tensions.
13:39It was alien to me. And I'm not even going to lie and say it wasn't.
13:42It was. I was like, who am I working with here?
13:45I'm like, really? I was concerned about working with them.
13:51Initially, I was like, it's a bolus.
13:54They want information. They're up to something.
13:57The trust wasn't there.
13:59And they said, Kevin, you could possibly break down these barriers and we want to help.
14:03Police Scotland are taking a risk, taking on the form of armed robber, drug addict, to come and work alongside them.
14:08I was also taking a reputational risk.
14:10Because I've got to go back to the community and tell everybody I work with police officers.
14:14An independent study found that involving ex-cons doubled the numbers who engaged.
14:19Leading to an 80% reduction in re-offending.
14:23The VOW project estimates that meant savings for police, courts and the prison service of around £8 million.
14:30If somebody watching this programme would say, hang on a moment, you're an armed robber, you're a drug user.
14:35And now we're expected to bring you in and be nice to these kids?
14:40You know, this is soft justice.
14:42Part of the revolving door of prisons is people have a dream to come out of prison and not offend again.
14:46But what happens is they come out, they get caught back up with the same stuff and they go back in prison.
14:50Most of the guys have experienced childhood trauma such as separation, loss of parents through bereavement.
14:55You know, horrific stories.
14:58What we're doing is no soft justice, it's not a soft approach, it's a caring, compassionate approach.
15:03Key to the public health approach is understanding how a traumatic childhood may be more likely to draw a young person into violence and crime.
15:13It's more about the understanding of why people are involved in the criminal justice process.
15:18Why do people get into crime in the first place?
15:20And we do that understanding and we ask the question, what can I do to help you?
15:25Which as you're speaking, I'm thinking that is quite unusual to be hearing that from the perspective of a police officer
15:32whose job is to carry out justice, to lock people up.
15:36But if we can prevent the crime in the first place and prevent it happening, then we don't need to lock them up.
15:42And you don't need to have all these victims.
15:47Since the VRU was set up, there has been a huge shift in attitude across Scotland in terms of how best to tackle violent crime.
15:54And there's no question, crime rates have gone down, not just for homicides.
15:59The question is how much of that can be attributed directly to the VRU and its public health approach.
16:08Criminologist Susan McPhee has researched the effectiveness of the VRU.
16:12She's shown that while individual projects have had a clear impact, it can't claim all the credit for the reduction in violence.
16:20It's very difficult to know how much of the violence reduction was due to specific things that were being led by, for example, the violence reduction unit
16:28and other wider global or political or societal changes.
16:33Most of the reduction in violence has been seen around young men committing acts of violence in public places with weapons,
16:40which was exactly the group that the violence reduction unit were trying to target.
16:45So I think most of the success is down to the fact that young people just don't live the same sort of lifestyles that they did 20 years ago.
16:52They spend much more time living in a virtual world rather than a real one.
16:58And it's a challenge for the VRU to sustain its impact.
17:02After dramatic falls in its first decade, in the past few years, violence has been creeping up again.
17:09Thank you very much.
17:11Niven Rennie is the director of the violence reduction unit and a former superintendent with 30 years policing experience.
17:19Why is violent crime going back up again?
17:22If this has been so successful, are you not concerned that these figures appear to be on an upward trend?
17:27I wouldn't sit as director of the violence reduction unit and not be concerned,
17:30but not to the stage that I think Scotland is falling back to where we were in 2005.
17:34I think we need to recognise where we are.
17:37But it does look like it's not just a spike, that it has been going up in the last few years, hasn't it?
17:42We've just gone through so many years of austerity.
17:45So public sector services have been cut.
17:47The gap between rich and poor has become wider.
17:50And there's numerous studies that show us when the gap is wider, the violence goes up.
17:54If we want to make a long-term change, we need to address the social ailments that are facing the country.
17:59No longer a lock them up and throw away the key approach,
18:02but a mindset which says we're going to give people opportunity.
18:05We're going to invest into private communities and give people that equality that they're looking for.
18:12Located on the outskirts of Glasgow is Oakwood Primary School in Easterhouse.
18:22It's the heart of a community which has been transformed in the past 15 years.
18:28The area used to be notorious for its gangs.
18:31At one point around 55 were terrorising local streets.
18:35It's still one of the most deprived areas of the UK, but violence here has dramatically fallen.
18:41This area here where the school was built actually is an area where they would have pitched battles.
18:45There would be the gang fights that would occur up and down the slopes here that the school was built on,
18:50and into that area there.
18:52If someone came in towards you and they were pulling out a knife, if you didn't have a knife on you, you had to run.
18:57Single parent Stephen has a daughter at the school.
19:00As a boy, he was part of an Easterhouse gang.
19:03See the boys we fought with over there?
19:05Yeah.
19:06Their kids come to this school.
19:08We talk to each other now because the way we looked at it is we only ever fought because that was the normal thing to do.
19:15I know it doesn't sound right, but that was the normal thing to do.
19:18The police staged a major crackdown on the Easterhouse gangs in 2005,
19:23and then the VRU started working with the community.
19:27Schools like Oakwood adopted the VRU's public health approach, offering families counselling and other support.
19:34Heather, a mother of nine, has joined Oakwood's after-school family club.
19:39The Easterhouse, ten years ago, the Easterhouse now,
19:44The Easterhouse, ten years ago, the Easterhouse now,
19:48is completely different.
19:49Family club now isn't just me bringing my family.
19:52We sit there and sit around a table and have dinner.
19:56That's important.
19:59One of the best things that came out of our school is that I've used the counselling service for nearly a year and a half.
20:06At the end of it, I was like, that literally changed my life,
20:11which then meant it changed their life because I became a better mummy through that.
20:17Children, including Heather's daughter, are taught effective ways to settle their differences.
20:23Could you guys just take a seat here, please?
20:29Thank you for coming here today to discuss your issues.
20:33A girl in my class was ignoring us and running away from us when we were trying to play with them.
20:39How did you feel when that happened?
20:41A bit sad.
20:48Morning. Can you come get these hoodies off, please? Lasers on.
20:52Across Scotland, many schools have adopted the VRU's public health approach.
20:58Ten years ago, the head of education in Glasgow told all schools to change the way they deal with students.
21:05She said they had to be more nurturing.
21:08Good morning. How are you today? Have you had breakfast?
21:11Here in West Glasgow, Drumchapel High has a programme called Second Start Breakfast.
21:16Latecomers are welcomed rather than being told off.
21:21Morning. How are you? What happened this morning, darling?
21:28Oh, I know that feeling. You have fun. See you later.
21:33What's happened this morning? You slept in. Are you alright?
21:37Yeah, it's just cold.
21:38Have you had breakfast this morning?
21:40Yeah.
21:41Are you going to go to the homeroom?
21:43Yeah.
21:44So it's quarter to ten and you're not reprimanding these kids for sleeping in?
21:49What other reasons have they given?
21:51No. So, I mean, really what they're saying is they're sleeping in.
21:54But actually what's happened is nobody else is maybe waking up in the house either.
21:58Teachers have also been given new techniques to deal with pupils' disrupting lessons.
22:04Oh! Gigglers!
22:07Connor's 13. His behaviour can be challenging.
22:10Can you be careful with that, please? I'll put it away for you.
22:13I just don't want to see you get hurt. And I don't want to get hurt by a ruler either.
22:17Okay?
22:18So, if we're all going to wake up and be energised, what have you got next?
22:23Oh, Connor. Now that's definitely a warning.
22:28Could you go and pick it up for me, please, and put it away?
22:32Can you please mind your language? Do you need to go outside to calm down for a wee bit?
22:35Yeah.
22:36Yeah? Do you want to go outside and calm down?
22:41Connor, don't disrupt the learning, please.
22:44Thank you very much. Good decision.
22:48I think the traditional method is maybe a bit more flipped on its head
22:51because I could have had a situation where just a high amount of swearing,
22:56kicking of furniture, slamming of doors, and nothing being achieved for him.
23:01Connor, could I just grab a wee word with you before you leave?
23:05What we can't have is the swearing and the disrupting others.
23:09I'm kind of coming at it from the angle, are you okay?
23:11For example, today, when I asked, do you want to go and have a minute?
23:14Go and chill out, have a minute.
23:16That, to me, is very different to your behaviour is not appropriate.
23:20Can you please leave the classroom?
23:23Amy.
23:25Amy.
23:26Amy's 14 and can also struggle in the classroom,
23:29but the school offers a special learning and development room
23:33for young people who need extra support.
23:36I couldn't handle being in classes as much as everybody else could.
23:39You've got so many people screaming in your ear,
23:41and the teacher can help you a lot more than what you can in an actual normal classroom.
23:45Which person believes Christmas is born in Israel?
23:48Jesus.
23:49In first year, when I was in school, I lost my granny,
23:52and it kind of got to me where they just try to help me as much as they can.
23:56Like, they could have literally kicked me out in first year or second year,
23:59but they still kept me on because the way they see it is they want to help us
24:03instead of just flinging us out where we're just going to end up to nothing.
24:07A child who's excluded before they're 12
24:10is four times more likely to be in prison by the time they're 22,
24:15and all Scotland's schools have been encouraged to stop excluding children.
24:21We've made the decision that we were really, really trying to stamp out exclusions
24:25because it wasn't helping, it wasn't making a difference, the behaviour wasn't improving.
24:29At Drumchapel High, exclusions have now dropped from over 350 a decade ago
24:35to just nine temporary exclusions last year.
24:39That traditional approach to learning, if you don't conform to what I'm offering,
24:43therefore you are out the door, and that doesn't help
24:46because actually what you're doing then is you are creating this barrier,
24:50school is a place that doesn't want me.
24:53Critics point out that Scotland ranks below England in International Education League tables.
24:59But its exclusion rates, both temporary and permanent,
25:03have dropped dramatically in the past ten years,
25:06while English exclusions have steadily risen.
25:10It's clear Scotland has become very different from the rest of the UK
25:14in terms of how it tackles both violent crime and manages behaviour in schools.
25:20But south of the border, several police forces are now setting up their own VRUs.
25:26You've had lots of politicians coming up here,
25:28you're being asked to go down and speak across the UK.
25:31What are the most important things that need to be done elsewhere in the UK to follow your lead?
25:37I think narrative has to change.
25:39It has to be a more understanding, compassionate narrative.
25:42The education programme is so important.
25:44You need to make sure that young people are growing up with this anti-violence message.
25:48I've been to a lot of violence reduction units down south
25:51and they all get it and they all want to make a difference
25:54and they all say it can be applied there.
25:56But different cities have different challenges.
25:59I don't think it's the right thing to say that you can take a model from another jurisdiction
26:04and just apply it anywhere else.
26:06Some of the solutions and strategies that were developed
26:09were based on a really strong understanding of what the underlying problems were.
26:14So I think it would be suitable to take a public health approach
26:18to reducing violence in other jurisdictions,
26:21but you couldn't necessarily achieve the same level of success with what happened in Scotland.
26:26And she points out that Scotland itself still has a long way to go.
26:30Scotland's gone from having a very high violence rate
26:33to a violence rate that's actually much more comparable with other countries.
26:37Scotland still has a higher assault rate than England and Wales,
26:40so we haven't cracked the violence problem.
26:46One person who has benefited from the public health approach is Jordan.
26:52It's been three months since Kevin and Lindsay first met him.
26:55How you doing mate, alright?
26:56And he's still on the programme and staying with his gran.
27:00How was your weekend?
27:01It's fine, just staying in.
27:03Staying in?
27:04I stay in, go to snooker, go to the gym, go for a swim, and that's basically it.
27:10What help have they given you that you might not have had otherwise?
27:13They took me to an appointment, made sure I got there.
27:16If I want to phone and talk, if I was angry or whatever,
27:19take me out for a coffee and that, just to basically speak.
27:22He's got a chance to prove himself now.
27:25We've got him off the streets, that's the main thing.
27:27I feel like it took me to go to prison and come back out to get that support.
27:34Faced with a violent crime epidemic,
27:37Scotland threw convention out of the window
27:40and adopted a more radical and more compassionate approach.
27:44The VRU challenges every level of Scottish society
27:47to think differently about violence and its root causes.
27:51To treat it not just as a matter of criminal justice,
27:54but crucially as a public health issue.
27:58There are still questions to be answered
28:00as to whether the success of the Violence Reduction Unit
28:03can be sustained in Scotland and indeed replicated across the rest of the UK.
28:08But the people in Scotland I've spoken to believe passionately
28:12that this public health approach will help a generation of children
28:16and young people to escape that cycle of violence their parents lived through.
28:24How was Hitler propelled from the fringes of political activism
28:28into the heart of government?
28:30Rise of the Nazis, starting now, over on BBC4.
28:54www.bbc4.org