The recent spate of knife-killings in London and the British government’s response illustrates the continuing problems policy-makers face in dealing with complex, cross-departmental issues - ten years after Tony Blair sought to develop a “joined-up” approach to policy-making.

It is hard to know whether there has been an increase in knife crime generally – but four fatal stabbings one day last week in London brought to 50 the number of people slain by knife this year in the capital, and of those 20 were teenagers.

To rein in the threat, Britain’s Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will unveil new measures tomorrow. Trailed in the media has been the idea of forcing knife-carrying youths to visit stab and knife-crime victims in hospital to see for themselves the effects of knife crime.

But you don’t have to be an opposition politician to feel that the government’s focus on law enforcement needs to be broadened to also address the underlying causes of the knife-crime surge, including economic dislocation, family break-down, drug and alcohol abuse, debt, problems in the education system etc. etc. It was Gordon Brown, after all, who coined the famous phrase “tough on crime; tough on the cause of crime”.

To develop a cross-cutting strategy, the government should take a leaf out of Alex and David’s work, and seek to build a “shared operating system” that can develop and implement a new knife-crime policy across the multiple layers of government involved, including Whitehall departments, City Hall, the London Boroughs, the private sector etc. etc.

Here’s what I’d do if the Prime Minister asked me for advice (a pretty unlikely scenario, I admit):

  1. Jointly appoint, with the London Mayor and the London Boroughs, a high-profile Youth Crime “Czar” with Cabinet and a £ 10 million discretionary budget. Serious, top-flight candidates like John Reid, Charles Clarke, Paddy Ashdown come to mind. The appointment of a senior police officer will not do.
  2. Give the “Czar” real authority to propose changes in policing, credit provision, education etc. etc. That is, authority to cut across all departments, whether in Whitehall or City Hall. 
  3. But this should not be another review. The task for the “Czar” is to draw up – and start implementing – a plan for dealing with the knife-crime issue, with a 400-day deadline.

Taking a leaf out of counter-insurgency theory, ideas to be considered by such a “Czar” could include:

  • The establishment of permanently-based, 24-hour mixed civilian/policing teams in troubled neighborhoods. These teams could “patrol” neighborhoods and include parents and other community workers.
  • Quick-impact economic projects, which can aim to give idle youths short-term employment or skills development, ideally developed with the private sector.
  • “Targeting” potential trouble-makers for pre-incident counseling, re-socialization through trips to Africa for troubled youths. 
  • Development of a pilot scheme for the Peace Corps-style idea advanced by David Cameron.

The knife-crime problem in London has been a long-time coming and it will take a long time to deal with. But many other cities, including New York, have been successful in dealing with similar issues.

To my mind, the answer requires a re-tooling of the bureaucratic system, the appointment of a single focal point, and the implementation of a comprehensive strategy. Anything else will grab the headlines, but is unlikely to address the problem.    

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