CIRV - 2010 Third Quarter Progress Report
Introduction by Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan QPM, Head of Violence Reduction Unit
This is the third Progress Report for Glasgow’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), the gang intervention model introduced to the UK for the first time in October 2008 by the Violence Reduction Unit, Scottish Government and Glasgow’s community planning partners.
Previous reports have outlined unprecedented reductions in violent offending behaviour by some of the city’s most challenging young people and this is continuing. The CIRV project team actively targets those at the highest risk, as recognised either by their previous conviction history or intelligence gathered from communities and partner agencies. As seen in this report, the statistical reduction in violent and other offending behaviour by those subject to the most intense intervention programmes continues to be considerable. Many have been routed through CIRV into employment, training or back into education and gang violence in the target areas is reported by police management as currently being ‘the exception rather than the rule’.
However, we are in no doubt that violence in Glasgow remains a deep rooted problem, particularly alcohol- fuelled violence and weapon carrying. A two year project will not solve a historically complex issue. It is therefore vital that we maintain and strengthen our efforts. While an independent evaluation of CIRV is now underway, it is clear that the concept itself is well proven and as such, I, along with the project manager Chief Inspector Robert Stevenson, have commenced discussions with many partners with a view to establishing CIRV as a mainstream city-wide violence intervention service. This is receiving considerable support and I look forward to meeting with many of you in the coming weeks and months.
The next progress report will be submitted in late 2010.
Contents
- Executive Summary
- CIRV’s Mission, Values and Principles
- Mentoring Update
- CIRV Performance Data
- Leap Confronting Conflict Training
- Programmes and Services for Under 16s
- Self Referral Sessions
- Gangs Engagement/Enforcement
- Evaluation and Analysis
- Future Evaluation Strategy
- Conclusion
1. Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to discuss the Third Quarter period of the CIRV Project that commenced on 24th October 2008. This period covers November 2009 - May 2010 and will discuss the new developments that have taken place since the publication of the First Year Report.
CIRV’s mission statement, values and principles are stated in this report for the first time to give clarity and direction to the team and partners. Our core message remains the same: the violence must stop. This is encouraged by addressing attitudinal and behavioural change in clients by offering diversion initiatives, e.g. education, employment, change programmes and services to clients.
New developments in our mentoring programme are discussed with a breakdown of where the mentors have been recruited from. There are now 34 CIRV mentors working to support young people. CIRV has recently established a link with Polmont Young Offenders Institute allowing us to engage with those due for release into the community.
Internal discussions in the CIRV team highlighted a lack of performance data in relation to those engaged, including totals of persons engaged, those disengaged, new referrals, and numbers of people in programmes etc. This has led to the development of a new Performance Data matrix that will be published on a monthly basis and disseminated to our partners. This report includes a selection of the types of information now produced.
CIRV have been working in partnership with Leap Confronting Conflict in delivering training to youth professionals who work in schools and the community. There are now a significant number of people trained in this important skill of dealing with violent behaviour.
This report concentrates on the programmes and services that have been developed over the past few months for those young people under 16 years of age. The programmes are discussed in full and include CIRV Anger Management programme (CAM), Community Education Link to Sport Programme (C.E.L.T.S.), Get a G.R.I.P. Programme, ‘Be Safe’ weapons awareness schools programme and the Impact Youth programme that has been developed with Culture and Sport Glasgow.
CIRV have held seven Self Referral Sessions to date, with the eighth and most recent taking place on 21st May 2010. There have been 765 people invited to attend and 352 who have attended; a 46% attendance rate. All those attending do so voluntarily.
Since the publication of the First Year Report, CIRV have established a new structure to operate in the locality. This comprises of a sergeant and two constables who have satellite offices at Shettleston and Maryhill Police Offices. This allows better contacts and flexibility in dealing with clients both for engagement and enforcement and the ability to liaise with the local police division on a more regular basis. CIRV has also been working to expand and increase the range of partners that can be called upon to carry out enforcement operations should the need arise. This work has also led to the development of a menu of response parameters that can be considered for enforcement.
Examination of levels of violent offending by CIRV clients who have attended the Tackling Gang Violence Programme and by those engaged with the project has again been carried out to allow comparisons with the First Year Report. The examination period has now increased to 18 months and shows a 46% reduction in the levels of violent offending by gang members who have engaged with CIRV. This is a small decrease from 49.2% quoted six months ago, although it is a longer period of analysis.
The independent evaluation that was planned has now commenced by members of St. Andrews and Glasgow Caledonian Universities. This report has mapped out the strategy involved and will involve in-depth interviews of team members, partners and clients and will last through the summer and beyond.
2. CIRV’s Mission, Values and Principles
Our Mission
To reduce street gang violence and weapon related violence in the east end and north side of Glasgow through the testing of the CIRV concept and to work efficiently and effectively in partnership with criminal justice and community bodies.
Achieving this mission will encourage partners and the community to deliver the CIRV model on a mainstreamed city-wide basis beyond the initial two year project period.
We will encourage attitudinal and behavioural change by violent street gang members, offering a full range of education, employment, diversion, change programmes and support services to those who engage. Those who continue to violently offend will be targeted for enforcement and be subject to a clear message: the violence must stop.
Our Values
Respect:We value each other and our clients, showing understanding and appreciation of our similarities and differences.
Integrity:We are honourable and trustworthy and always strive to make the right decisions for our clients.
Impartiality:We are always honest, truthful and open in our interaction with each other, our partners and our clients. We treat everyone in a fair, sensitive and ethical manner.
Reliability:We are conscientious, professional, responsible and dependable in our dealings with each other, our partners and our clients.
Accountability:We are accountable in all that we do and submit ourselves to appropriate scrutiny.
Teamwork:We work together as a team, making use of the range of diverse skills, abilities, roles and views available to us.
Our Principles
People:We value the hard work, creativity and unique contribution each member of the team offers. We promote equality of opportunity not only among our team but also our clients, whose opinions and contributions we will equally value.
Quality:We are committed to testing the concept of the CIRV model and to its continuous improvement. We encourage the use of creativity and innovation in one another in order to improve our performance and professional excellence.
Empowerment:We recognise the quality and commitment of our team and our partners. We trust one another to do what is right and to be accountable for the decisions that we make. The support of project management can be relied upon for any actions that lead to honest mistakes being made.
Client Focus:We put our clients first and are committed to addressing diversity and the needs of the community. We aim to achieve a level of performance that exceeds the original expectations of the project. We care for our clients with dignity and impartiality.
Problem Solving:We are most effective when we accurately identify the most violent and problematic communities and those who are most at risk within them. We encourage our staff and partners to introduce new ideas as we strive to effect long term sustainable reductions in violence across our city.
Partnership:We will engage with partners across the public, private and voluntary sector to reduce street gang violence. We will not seek to replace any existing service, rather we will strive to better co-ordinate the activities of all those in the city who share our ambition for less violence in our communities.
Learning:We will invest in the future through the education and training of our staff and our clients to leave a lasting legacy of committed people all striving for and delivering violence reduction activities in our city. As a team we will learn, re-learn and re-evaluate constantly to remain innovative and effective.
3. Mentoring Update
Over the past months CIRV have been active in establishing a mentoring service for young people that have engaged with the project, the concepts of which were fully discussed in the First Year Report. The mentor acts as a single point of contact and positive role model for the client, working with them on a one-to-one basis to carry out a variety of tasks.
There are currently 34 volunteers from various backgrounds including project workers, key support workers and peer mentors from across the private, public and voluntary sectors (see table below).
| Includem | 2 |
| Volunteers | 4 |
| CIRV PEER Mentors via Bambury Centre | 3 |
| Culture and Sport | 4 |
| GHA | 11 |
| Skills Development Scotland | 1 |
| GCSS | 8 |
| ARC | 1 |
| TOTAL | 34 |
| Number of CIRV YPs with allocated mentor | 33 EAST | 18 North |
| Total | 51 |
| No. of current CIRV clients who have refused a mentor or deemed not suitable | 8 North | 12 East |
| No. of CIRV mentoring courses completed | 1 Pilot course |
| No. of CIRV mentors attended CIRV mentoring course | 3 PEER Mentors |
Polmont Young Offenders Institute
Recently CIRV has also established a link with Polmont Young Offenders Institute (YOI). Clients are offered support approximately once a month from an allocated Prison Mentor and Key Worker while in custody and in the lead up to their release. These meetings allow participants the opportunity to discuss what support they may require on their release, and any employment or training opportunities that are available to them. Near to their release date, clients will be allocated a mentor to encourage and support them on a regular basis. This service will continue until both parties agree that support is no longer required.
4. CIRV Performance Data
CIRV has developed a Performance Management matrix which will now be produced on a monthly basis. The data displayed below relates to the period 1 March 2010 to 18 April 2010.
| Total number of Young People engaged since October 2008 (including football only) | 357 |
| Total in East | 209 |
| Total in North | 44 |
| Football Only (Attended 4 times or more) | 102 |
Case Conference (East and North)
The Case Conference model was discussed in full in the 1st Year Report. When the project expanded in to the North of the city it became necessary to have separate case conferences for both the north and east. At these conferences cases are reviewed on a regular basis. Cases are classified as either:
- Active – case is currently being worked on
- Monitoring – a positive destination has been found for the client and their progress is being monitored
- On Hold – the client is subject to police action
- Disengaged – the client has been removed from the case conference review process, although will continue to be monitored through crime intelligence checks
East Area
| Total Under 16s in East | 46 |
| Active | 18 |
| Monitoring | 2 |
| On Hold | 11 |
| Disengaged | 15 |
| Total Over 16s in East | 163 |
| Active | 64 |
| Monitoring | 22 |
| On Hold | 4 |
| Disengaged | 73 |
| Reasons for Disengagement - Under 16s East | 15 |
| Disengaged - No Contact | 2 |
| Disengaged - No Gang Affiliation | 1 |
| Disengaged - Positive Destination | 12 |
| Reasons for Disengagement - Over 16s East | 75 |
| Disengaged - Continued Offending | 6 |
| Disengaged - Died | 1 |
| Disengaged - No Contact | 28 |
| Disengaged - No Gang Affiliation | 2 |
| Disengaged - Positive Destination | 35 |
| Disengaged - Social Work | 3 |
- Number of new referrals during 1/3/10 – 18/04/10
- Over the period we have engaged with five males and two females. They all come from different gangs throughout the east end.
Disengaged Cases – East
- Number of cases that have been disengaged during 1/3/10 – 18/04/10 - Two
Clients engaged by gang membership in East
- CIRV have engaged with a total of 206 gang members from a total of 41 different gangs throughout the east of the city.
NORTH Area
| Total North Under 16s | 6 |
| Active | 6 |
| Monitoring | 0 |
| On Hold | 0 |
| Disengaged | 0 |
| Total North Over 16s | 38 |
| Active | 37 |
| Monitoring | 1 |
| On Hold | 0 |
| Disengaged | 0 |
| Reasons for Disengagement - Under 16s North | 0 |
| Positive Destination - Employment | 0 |
| Positive Destination - Training | 0 |
| Negative Destination - No Contact | 0 |
| Negative Destination - Continued Offending | 0 |
| Reasons for Disengagement - Over 16s North | 0 |
| Positive Destination - Employment | 0 |
| Positive Destination - Training | 0 |
| Negative Destination - No Contact | 0 |
| Negative Destination - Continued Offending | 0 |
New Referrals - North
- Number of new referrals during 1/3/10 – 18/04/10 - Seven
Disengaged Cases – North
- Number of cases that have been disengaged during 1/3/10 – 18/04/10: - Two
Clients engaged by gang membership in North
- CIRV have engaged a total of 44 gang members from a total of 16 different gangs in the north of the city.
Programmes and Services
There are various programmes and services that CIRV offers to clients. They range from employability and personal development courses through to counselling addiction support. A programme is tailored to suit the needs of each individual client through the case conference process.
CIRV Tackling Gang Violence Programme for Over 16s
| Number of Courses | 10 |
| Number of attendees | 91 |
| &Attendee Breakdown | |
| East | 76 |
| North | 15 |
Pre-Employment Education Re-engagement Programme (PEER) for under 16s
| Number of Courses | 1 |
| Number of attendees | 7 |
| Attendee Breakdown | |
| East | 7 |
| North | 0 |
CIRV Employability Programme for Over 16s
| Number of Courses | 8 |
| Number of attendees | 51 |
| Attendee Breakdown | |
| East | 43 |
| North | 8 |
East End Football League – Year 1
In Year 1 CIRV registered a total of 268 boys, who play regularly in the football league.
East End Football League – Year 2
| Number of registered participants | 222 |
| Attended 4 times or more | 137 |
| Attended 10 times or more | 90 |
| Attended 20 times or more | 37 |
| Number of attending engaged with CIRV | 46 |
| Number attending and engaged as Football only | 102 |
| Number of Friday league nights | 18 |
| Number of mid week training nights | 74 |
Future Job Fund jobs
Future Jobs Fund is a Department of Work and Pensions initiative that is part of Central Government commitment to tackle youth unemployment. Future Jobs Fund jobs runs over 26 weeks for a minimum of 25 hours per week, with payment being equivalent to minimum wage. It is open to those aged between 18- 24 years and jobs are ‘ring-fenced’ for CIRV clients and also to those residents in the East End of the city (as this falls into an area of social deprivation).
The programme has run since Dec 2009 with the last round of jobs being filled in May 2010. Currently 3 CIRV clients have been offered full time contracts from employers involved with them initially in the Future Jobs Fund initiative.
| Total Number of clients currently in a FJF post | 25 |
| Total Number of clients who have successfully achieved a FJF post | 25 |
Key Worker Support
Keyworker support is delivered from CIRV’s full time seconded staff from Skills Development Scotland. Both members of staff are dedicated to linking with CIRV clients, encouraging them to complete application forms for new or ongoing training projects. They attend the weekly case conferences and are the pivotal link between the clients and the team. They are trusted by the clients and are often called upon for their guidance and support to attend interviews or further education courses.
| Total no. of clients referred for Careers Scotland support | 118 |
| Number of clients with Culture and Sport Key Worker | 10 |
| Number of clients with Move On support | 1 |
| Number of clients with WISE group support | 1 |
5. LEAP Confronting Conflict Training
Since November 2009 the multi-agency group of youth professionals who completed the Leap Conflict Practitioner Training have been working with young people in schools and in the community developing the skills of both the trainers and the young people they are helping.
Conflict Awareness workshops were delivered to a total of over two hundred pupils from seven schools in the East and North. This seven hour programme, delivered by teams of three plus a Leap trainer over a four week period, gave young people the skills and awareness to resolve conflict without violence. Those selected to take part were young people who were involved in or at risk of involvement in group or gang violence. These courses also provided an invaluable source of experience for the trainers, most of whom are new to this type of training.
A partnership was also created with Rangers Football Club to deliver the ‘Gie it a Rest’ programme with a group of boys selected from two schools in North Glasgow. The eight week programme for boys from John Paul Academy and Cleveden Secondary School consisted of weekly Conflict Resolution sessions followed by football coaching provided by Rangers, leading to the Junior Sports Leadership Award.
Work was also carried out with two groups of young people from the East End who were recognised gangs with a history of violence and anti-social behaviour. This programme proved to be so successful that one of the groups was ended early because they said they had stopped fighting, a fact borne out by intelligence.
Young People Trained
| Target Group | Number of young people | Number of delivery hours |
| Lochend Community High School. Whole of 1st year; seven tutor groups; boys and girls | 109 | 7 |
| Eastbank Academy. Selected group of 2nd and 3rd year boys. | 15 | 7 |
| Gie it a rest. In partnership with Rangers FC. Selected group of 2nd and 3rd year boys from John Paul Academy and Cleveden Secondary School | 14 | 21 |
| St Mungo’s school. Selected group of boys and girls from 2nd year | 14 | 7 |
| Carntyne group. Boys from Carntyne area | 14 | 16 |
| Beattock St group. Boys and girl from Parkhead area | 6 | 12 |
| Springburn Academy. Selected group of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year girls | 15 | 7 |
| Whitehill Secondary School. Selected group of 1st and 2nd year boys and girls. | 16 | 7 |
Members of staff trained in Leap Confronting Conflict
| Organisation | Playing with Fire | Working with Gangs | Conflict Practioner Training | Total No. of staff trained from organisation |
| Aberlour Trust | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Army | 2 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| &The Bambury Centre | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Careers Scotland | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Culture and Sport | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| FARE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Strathclyde Fire and Rescue | &0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Glasgow Community and Safety Services (GCSS) | 6 | 12 | 7 | 13 |
| Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) | 5 | 6 | 5 | 13 |
| Kan Do Sports | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sidekix | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| CIRV Project Team | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| TOTAL | 30 | 42 | 23 | 60 |
6. Programmes and Services for under 16's
Following on from the update in the 1st Year Report CIRV has continued to work in partnership with all primary and secondary schools, as well as Vocational and College establishments in the north and east of the city.
As part of the engagement and early intervention process for clients under 16, CIRV has continued to liaise closely with school Senior Management Teams to engage with pupils identified through intelligence as being involved in gang violence. In addition to the courses discussed in previous reports CIRV has developed new courses to contribute to the co-ordinated anti-violence message within schools.
CIRV Anger Management Programme (CAM)
The programme is open to young people from 11 to 16 years of age within the secondary schools in the east end of the city and provides pupils struggling with anger management an opportunity to gain insight into their difficulties while learning skills to appropriately deal with anger. The programme encourages pupils who participate to accept responsibility for what they’ve done and avoid violent or aggressive behaviour in the future. Through the case management process CIRV identifies pupils whose behaviour indicates they would benefit from the programme.
The CAM Programme aims to:
- Develop strategies for young pupils to control their anger
- Increase self-confidence
- Value social skills
- Promote personal development
- Increase knowledge of relationships (family, friends and others).
Participants referred to the programme attend a six week counselling programme consisting of Group Therapy sessions which meet for one hour each week, and are conducted by a professional therapist from REACT Services. Discussions are designed to assist participants in understanding and taking responsibility for their personal struggles with anger management. Through the sessions, participants work to identify their anger triggers and rehearse appropriate responses to anger. Forgiveness, domestic violence and relapse prevention are also discussed, among other topics.
Because anger management difficulties may present a family crisis, family participation is also part of the programme. Family members, including the programme participant, meet with the therapist in a family session to discuss the programme. The parents’ perspective is invaluable to the successful outcome of the programme. If needed, appropriate linkages to on-going individual or family counselling are provided.
Community Education Link to Sport Programme (C.E.L.T.S.)
The CELTS Programme focuses on positive choices and looks to enhance individual wellbeing, develop a team approach to problem solving and promote opportunities for all pupils to succeed. Its aim is to support young pupils in their transition phase from primary to secondary school.
The programme objectives include:
- Through sport allow pupils to familiarise themselves with facilities in the school.
- Provide an opportunity to meet new people in a sporting context.
- Breakdown barriers through developing team work.
- Create a ‘team’ identity within their new secondary school.
Working in partnership with St Andrew’s Secondary School in Glasgow’s east end, CIRV and the C.E.L.T.S. programme helps to prepare pupils from all feeder primaries for the new school environment via a programme which engages them through sport.
The programme encourages youngsters to identify with each other through shared experiences achieved by group visits such as a trip to Celtic Football ground. It also features a series of workshops which challenge their points of view around issues such as:
- Territorialism.
- Self esteem and self confidence.
- Personal challenges.
There are various outcomes which the programme looks to achieve including:
- Develop self-awareness, self-worth and respect for others.
- Build positive relationships.
- Experience personal achievement and build confidence.
- Understand and develop physical, mental and social skills.
- Participate in a wide range of activities which promote a healthy lifestyle.
- Learn about where to find help and resources to help settling into new school.
- Assess and manage risk and understand the benefits of making positive choices.
- Reflect on strengths and skills to help make informed choices when planning next steps.
- Understand diversity and understand that everyone’s different.
Get a G.R.I.P. Programme
The GRIP Programme is designed to help young people turn away from anti social behaviour and involvement in any violent or aggressive behaviour.
The programme is open to young people at St Mungo’s Secondary School identified by staff as requiring support in changing their attitude and behaviour. It is designed to change the way they respond to challenges from others.
As part of the programme the child’s pastoral care staff, police campus officer and CIRV mentor meet to discuss and agree a plan of activities to offer the child a chance to make some changes. They work with the child to help them find opportunities to turn away from trouble. This might be by trying some new things, doing more of the things they enjoy or getting support to make the changes they think they’ll need to achieve their goal of staying out of trouble.
The hope is that once the G.R.I.P. Action Plan is finished the child will want to continue in the new behaviour, thus reducing their chances of getting involved in the Youth Justice system.
‘Be Safe’ – Weapons Awareness Schools Programme
The aim of this programme is to furnish young people with the necessary information to decide whether carrying a weapon is a good idea or not and to encourage them to refrain from doing so.
The course focuses on young people in main stream education, particularly those in S2 to S5. The sessions last for 50 minutes and examine issues such as using knives as a weapon of defence, knife crime and alcohol, medical implications, social implications, revenge & reprisals and the experience of prison.
By the end of the training programme young people will:-
- Be aware of the uselessness of a knife as a weapon for self defence
- Be aware of the personal dangers of carrying a knife
- Be informed of the consequences of carrying and/or using a knife
- Be aware of the medical implications of penetrating wounds
- Be aware of the social implications of using a knife
- Be aware of the law surrounding offensive weapons
- Have explored behaviours which increase risk of negative consequences
- Have explored strategies to avoid risk taking behaviour
Impact Youth
Through discussions with Culture and Sport Glasgow CIRV has identified a partnership approach that creates an opportunity for early intervention for young pupils who are finding it difficult to engage with organised services within the community. It became clear we could work together to engage with young people and encourage them to make positive choices in how they approach life.
Impact Youth uses sport and a variety of workshop discussions to engage youngsters and dissuade them from getting involved in gangs
Via this programme we hope to address the issues that lead young people to get involved in gangs and negotiate an action plan which would direct them away from such behaviour.
In partnership with Culture and Sport Glasgow we offer each school the opportunity to select five pupils identified by staff as being likely to benefit from participating in this type of approach.
The schools identified to take part in the programme were, St Mungo’s RC Secondary, Smithycroft Secondary and Whitehill Secondary Schools.
Outcomes targeted through this programme are:
- Increase levels of Self Esteem.
- Develop self confidence.
- Understanding of strategies used to deal with conflict.
- Clearer insight of aspects of territorialism.
- Children to set personal and realistic goals.
7. Self Referral Sessions
The Self Referral Sessions were discussed in full in the 1st Year Report. The session held on the 21st May 2010 was for under 16s only. This session also had young people in attendance who are currently in custody at Polmont Young Offenders Institute, with the agreement of the Scottish Prison Service. This session and future sessions will be analysed for future reports.
The tables below give an updated picture of the attendance figures for the session since the start of the project.
| Total invited to SRS | 765 |
| Total attended SRS | 352 |
| Number of attendees who are engaged with CIRV | 102 |
| Number attending session more than once | 16 |
| SRS1 | SRS2 | SRS3 | SRS4 | SRS5 | SRS6 | SRS7 | |
| Number Invited | 118 | 148 | 209 | 80 | 48 | 99 | 61 |
| Number Attended | 76 | 40 | 46 | 40 | 36 | 51 | 61 |
| Number Engaged | 28 | 16 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 10 | 4 |
| Number attending for 2nd time | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| NORTH | |
| Under 16 | 1 Engaged after SRS | 1 Engaged before SRS |
| Over 16 | 6 Engaged after SRS |
| EAST | |
| Under 16 | 17 Engaged after SRS | 4 Engaged before SRS |
| Over 16 | 32 Engaged after SRS | 22 Engaged before SRS | 9 Engaged week after SRS | 10 engaged week before SRS |
Locality Team
During the period after publication of the First Year Report, CIRV established a new Locality Team in the north and east of the city, covering that part of ‘B’ Division that sits within the Glasgow city boundaries. This team comprises of a Sergeant and two Constables who operate from two satellite offices in the locality at Maryhill and Shettleston Police Offices.
The team is designed to have greater contact with police division tasking and co-ordinating group meetings and ensure that information is shared in a timely fashion, in line with information sharing protocols. This also allows the officers to be in a position to consider enforcement actions should the need arise. They are also tasked with engaging with clients and youths groups in the areas they operate in.
Engagement Strategy
In order to carry out an effective engagement strategy the Locality team has devised an Engagement/Enforcement Tracker matrix, in which individuals involved in recent violent incidents, either as a victim or offender, are targeted by the team for engagement or indeed enforcement. This will be discussed in detail in a future Practice Note for Client Enforcement/Engagement.
Enforcement Strategy
As outlined in the CIRV First Year Report “CIRV makes clear that continued violent behaviour will result in a strong enforcement response from the Police, with individual clients being removed from the programme and targeted enforcement action against groups as a whole.”
CIRV’s enforcement aims and objectives are as follows:
- To reduce and deter violence amongst CIRV clients and their gang associates.
- To deliver a focused appropriate and area specific enforcement response aimed at CIRV clients and their gang associates.
- To raise the profile of CIRV within gang territories and embed core CIRV message within communities.
- To engage/ re-engage appropriate CIRV clients.
Enforcement Partners
CIRV have been working to expand and increase the range of partners that can be called upon to carry out enforcement operations. These include the police division, the Gangs Task Force, Operational Support Division (OSD), GHA (NRT), GCSS, the Procurator Fiscal and any other partner deemed necessary to carry out an effective intervention.
Enforcement triggers that are considered when implementing an enforcement operation vary and these include:
- Serious Assault and above involving CIRV client.
- Weapons offences involving CIRV clients.
- Raised levels of gang activity involving specific gang member/gang.
- Request from Division for CIRV enforcement support.
In order to address the triggers noted above the team have developed a menu of response parameters that can be considered for each enforcement operation as highlighted in the figure below.
Response Parameters
| LEVEL 1 ENFORCEMENT - Serious Assaultand above | FULL ENFORCEMENT Serious Assault and above |
| LEVEL 2 ENFORCEMENT - Weapons | TARGET SPECIFIC ENFORCEMENT - Weapons |
| LEVEL 1 ENFORCEMENT - Request from division re increases gang activity or identified viw CIRV | NEEDS BASED RAISED ACTIVITY |
There are various options available to CIRV and partners in response to each level.
Level 1
- Activity carried out by Corporate Communications Department, e.g. media release, ad trailer etc.
- Three hour enforcement operation within target area.
- Concentrated activity.
- All CIRV partners involved – some or all enforcement options utilised.
- Post operation - community reassurance phase.
Level 2
- Gangs Task Force, Divisional staff and OSD staff utilised.
- High visibility operation.
- Limited to gang members and associates.
- Extensive use of stop search powers for weapons.
- Temporary/Permanent removal from CIRV Programmes/Services.
- CIRV disengagement.
- Application for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders/Anti-Social Behaviour Contracts.
- CIRV home visits/custody visits.
- CIRV warning letter to individuals/parents.
- CIRV intelligence support to division.
- Suspension or removal of clients from CIRV Programmes/Services.
- Suspension of Programme Service provision.
- Disengagement of clients.
9. Evaluation and Analysis
Engaged Client Offending
The following information shows violent offences committed by CIRV clients. Because the clients have all engaged at varying times over the last 18 months it has been necessary to group the individuals by date engaged. This was done by grouping individuals engaged after each Self Referral Session (SRS). The pre-SRS period was established by calculating the number of days from the SRS date to 23/04/10. This number was then subtracted from the SRS date which gives an equal period pre and post SRS. For this report the clients engaged after the first three SRS have been analysed, the SRS after this would not allow a long enough period post SRS for analysis.
SRS 1 & 2 – Total of 124 clients
| Crime Text | Pre SRS | Post SRS |
| Simple/Common Assault | 40 | 30 |
| Weapon Carrying | 39 | 9 |
| Knife Carrying | 23 | 14 |
| Serious Assault* | 15 | 11 |
| Attempted Murder | 4 | 1 |
| Total | 121 | 65 |
SRS 3 – Total of 33 clients
| Crime Text | Pre SRS | Post SRS |
| Simple/Common Assault | 6 | 4 |
| Weapon Carrying | 7 | 2 |
| Knife Carrying | 1 | 2 |
| Serious Assault* | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 15 | 8 |
SRS 4 – Total of 18 clients
| Crime Text | Pre SRS | Post SRS |
| Simple/Common Assault | 5 | 6 |
| Weapon Carrying | 3 | 0 |
| Knife Carrying | 1 | 3 |
| Serious Assault* | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 11 | 9 |
As these tables show there has been an overall reduction in violent offences committed by CIRV clients. The 1st group shows a 46% reduction from 121 offences pre-SRS to 65 crimes post-SRS. This figure (46%) compares favourably with the reduction of 49.2% noted in the First Year Report. This group also shows much higher numbers of offences than the other two because it has a much higher number of clients to analyse and also it is based on an 18 month period pre and post- SRS (compared to the 12 month period examined in the First Year Report).
10. Future Evaluation Strategy
Building on the work reported in the First Year Report an evaluation strategy has been devised to comprehensively investigate the effectiveness of CIRV in addressing the problem of gang violence and associated health risk behaviours. The strategy will utilise a combination of surveys, interviews and focus groups ensuring both depth and breadth across four streams of enquiry (see Figure below).
First, through in-depth interviews with members of the CIRV team, the implementation of CIRV will be mapped to identify its evolution from the initial Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence. Secondly, a combination of surveys and interviews with individuals from various levels in allied agencies will be utilised to identify the observed impact on levels of violence from various perspectives. Thirdly, interviews and focus groups will be employed to investigate the perceived role of community members in reducing levels of violence and also to identify the observed impact of CIRV on levels of violence within the community.
Finally, the evaluation of the services and programmes will involve surveys, interviews and focus groups, targeting five specific groups: individuals involved in the LEAP training, CIRV mentors, CIRV service providers and the two streams of clients – under 16s and over 16s.
Initially, the focus on the client group will be on the over 16s stream where a researcher is in post and will target four core programmes and services: the CIRV gang rehabilitation programme, the CIRV employability programme, the CIRV East End Football League and the LEAP training. A second researcher will be in post as of 1st August to begin the evaluation of the under 16s stream.
Tailored surveys and interview and focus group protocols will be developed for each component through a collaborative effort between academics at St Andrews University (Professor Peter Donnelly), Glasgow Caledonian University (Professor Jackie Tombs) and Dundee University (Professor Nick Fyfe), the CIRV steering group, and relevant individuals (i.e. CIRV mentors). This will ensure suitable questions are included to most effectively capture the necessary information for evaluative purposes; however, the focus will not solely be on what has worked but also on what could be improved for the future. It is therefore envisaged that questions will address issues around violence, health, lifestyle and how (if at all) CIRV has brought about behavioural change.
11. Conclusion
The First Year Report outlined areas of work that CIRV was looking to carry out in the third quarter. This report has discussed the work carried out in this period and has given an update on the priorities.
- Agreement has been reached with the Strathclyde Police Gangs Task Force to work closely together in enforcement operations in the future. CIRV officers have assisted the Gangs Task Force recently in an operation and further opportunities will be explored in the future.
- There are now 34 mentors working with CIRV and work is ongoing to further develop this important skill of the engagement of clients.
- Work is on going in developing further employment, training and educational opportunities for CIRV clients and this is leading to involvement in new working groups that have been established in the city.
- A range of new under-16 programmes have been developed and are being utilised in the north and east of the city in co-operation with Education.
- The formal evaluation stage has now commenced by members of St. Andrews and Glasgow Caledonian Universities, with CIRV team members and partners participating accordingly.
- Dialogue has commenced with community planning partners across the city with a view to mainstreaming the CIRV model city wide.
Analysis has revealed that there has been an overall reduction in violent offences committed by CIRV clients. The 1st group shows a 46% reduction from 121 offences pre-SRS to 65 crimes post-SRS. This figure (46%) compares favourably with the reduction of 49.2% noted in the First Year Report. It should also be noted that it is based on an 18 month period pre and post SRS (compared to the 12 month period examined in the First Year Report).
CIRV will submit its final progress report at the conclusion of the fourth quarter of the project at the end of October 2010.
For more information on CIRV Please contact the CIRV team on: Contact information in download version
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