Understanding and Policing Gangs

By Robert McLean

After many years of decline, reported levels of youth violence and gang culture in Britain began to increase again in 2014, and have continued to do so since, particularly in England and Wales. This has happened against the backdrop of deindustrialisation, and as the result of a lack of local community investment, as well as the continuing issues associated with the profiling and criminalisation of young working-class men, particularly those from ethnic minority communities. This document comprises two parts. Part I reviews contemporary literature on gang culture and highlights the most pertinent findings, which were used to brief conversations at the Cumberland Lodge Conference on ‘Understanding and Policing Gangs’ in June 2019. Part II draws upon those conference conversations and presents key themes that cut across the various panel discussions. It also outlines recommendations that emerged from both the conference discussions and a follow-up consultation to further scrutinise the findings, held in October 2019. These recommendations seek to outline ways in which gang culture might be addressed in the UK, and how communities might be better policed.

Windsor, UK: Cumberland Lodge, 2020. 80p.