This week's Schnews

bristol | drugs and crime | news report Friday October 24, 2003 10:20 by ffwd

"When the revolution comes, we'll get rid of the police cos there'll be no more crime... yeah right. Anarchist utopias are all very well, but anti-social behaviour is carving up communities in the here and now, and 'blueprints for the future' don't take knives off throats." - Bristol resident

Friday 24th October 2003, Issue 428

WAKE UP! IT'S YER OUT OF ORDER...

SchNEWS

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YOBSMACKED

"When the revolution comes, we'll get rid of the police cos
there'll be no more crime... yeah right. Anarchist utopias are all
very well, but anti-social behaviour is carving up communities in
the here and now, and 'blueprints for the future' don't take
knives off throats." - Bristol resident

Last week, without the help of apathetic police, archaic laws, or
an out-of-touch government, the people of Greater Leys estate in
Oxford did something for themselves. They decided they'd had just
about enough of teenagers terrorising their neighborhood and
issued an 'eviction notice' to the gang in the local park where
they hang out.

The gang had taken control of the park, which people have to cross
to get to the only local shop, and their threats and intimidation
were escalating - one youngster was smashed in the face with a
sawn-off pool cue, another slashed with a knife. One mother who
turned to the cops after both her sons were attacked was told
there was nothing they could do. She is now living in fear of
reprisals after one of the ringleaders threatened to burn her
house down.

Another local resident, Jane Lacey, said "What we are trying to do
is show them (the gang) that they're not big or clever doing this
stuff - they're screwing the community and they will be despised
for it. We also want the parents of the gang members to sit up and
take notice before it's too late and their kids become totally
beyond control."

Despite the picket and eviction being organised through word of
mouth, the gang got wind of the plan and stayed away, but
residents promised to step up their campaign if the attacks and
muggings continue. Already the family of one of the gang members
has approached the family of two of the victims with an assurance
that he will be a good boy from now on.

In Manchester, anti-mugging patrols happen on an irregular basis
in part of the Hulme estate. Mick from Hulme told SchNEWS, "There
are a lot of community activists and anarchists on the estate.
Residents keep in touch with an email list called "shout".
Whenever anyone gets mugged or attacked someone sends a "shout"
out to the list. Often people then take it upon themselves to
arrange a time to do an anti-mugging patrol.

It's not aggressive. Residents sit out around a fire or listen to
a radio at the end of one of the streets. We tell passers by what
we are doing and get a favourable response. We can't be everywhere
on the estate at once, but the fact that there are people out and
about seems to be very good at preventing muggers, at least for
the period of the patrols. It also builds the kind of community
spirit that prevents this kind of crime in the first place.

The people that have been mugged really appreciate this informal
scheme as it is obvious for them that they live in an area where
people do care about their neighbours. It turns around the "victim
mentality" by doing something active and positive. I think the
general consensus on the estate is that we'd rather do things this
way than get CCTV. But maybe that's cos we're all so dodgy!"

In the Easton area of Bristol - getting over-run with crack
selling yardies - locals who are tired of waiting for police who
never come have taken things into their own hands too. They 'cut
off' pay phones regularly used for drug dealing and spray painted
'heroin for sale' at a place of blatant public smack dealing. One
of the members of the community, Flaco, points out "This isn't
about vigilantism, but about taking control back from all bogus
authority - whether that authority is backed by parliament, or by
a pistol in the boot of a BMW."

OH BEHAVE YOURSELF!

So what do we do about anti-social behaviour? Introduce more laws
that ultimately get used on protestors? Stalking laws were
introduced to protect women but have now been used on protestors,
while an animal rights activist has already been issued with an
interim Anti Social Behaviour Order. So while it's quite obvious
to some of us that more laws aren't the answer, then what is? If
people are getting the crap beaten out of them while just going to
the shop, or the local playground is full of needles, it really
doesn't help anyone to say, "Don't worry- wait for the revolution
and then everything will be alright."

The answer's not easy - community action against "anti-social
behaviour" does have to be well handled and can be a magnet for
thugs, vigilantes and right-wing reactionaries or people who want
the police to have even more powers and more CCTV. In Easton,
Bristol, the members of the community groups who came together
agreed about the need for do-it-yourself action but found
themselves divided on issues like installing CCTV cameras. The
beating to death of Josie Dwyer, a Dublin heroin addict, by a
vigilante mob, is a particularly grim example of what can go
wrong.

It is a serious problem that has to be faced, as a member of the
Independent Working Class Association who won their first ever
councilor in Greater Leys said "Issues like this have proved a
major weakness for much of the orthodox Left - 'The issue is
difficult, so let's avoid it.' But isn't that what radical
politics should be about - providing practical solutions to
problems, despite difficulties and dangers? If you can't do that,
why should anyone have any faith in your ability to solve bigger
political problems? I often get the feeling the Left is more
comfortable talking about 'revolution' or 'stopping the war',
precisely because those questions don't demand an immediate test
of their politics..."

Individually the people of Greater Leys were vulnerable to
attack - but collectively, by coming together as a community, they
could tell the gang "Your behaviour isn't acceptable". As
communities get stronger and people get to know each other, they
can tackle all sorts of issues - like why there aren't decent bus
services or shops in their area. And if people from 'radical'
politics are involved, local communities might just start taking
their ideas seriously.

As one person from Oxford commented "We look to the Piqueteras in
Argentina, the Zapatistas in Chiapas, and praise them for their
direct action and seizing power and running their own communities
without the aid of corrupt politicians. And yet, when the
community-minded citizens in Oxford do the same thing, they are
slagged off. We should be learning by their example, giving
support, and helping other communities to take control of their
own space. If they don't, no one else will do it for them."

More on the Blackbird Leys campaign www.bliwca.fsnet.co.uk
www.schnews.org.uk/sotw/evrybody-neighbours.htm