Urgent probe launched after Birmingham gangs report outcry

Mar 25 2009 by Paul Dale, Birmingham Post

An urgent inquiry was under way last night to discover who at Birmingham City Council approved publication of a list of more than 80 schools said to be recruiting grounds for violent gangs.

The document was removed from the local authority’s website yesterday afternoon following a storm of protest from politicians and parents.

Council director of scrutiny John Cade took the decision to drop the controversial police and Home Office report – Street Influence – which gives a no-holds-barred account of how the city’s two main gangs lure children into a life of crime.

He acted following widespread concern that simply by publishing the document the council was in danger of glamorising gangs and unfairly writing off schools as places where the seeds of future violence were being sewn.

A scrutiny committee set up to examine Birmingham’s gang culture was told that the identity of the schools should have remained secret.

The list was sent by the council to a small number of head teachers last year, but only on the basis that the information would be treated confidentially.

The Street Influence document sets out to explain to teachers and parents the tell-tale signs that children are being dragged into gangs. A map shows “feeder” schools in geographical areas dominated by two gangs – the Johnson Crew and the Burger Bar Boys.