“I don’t mind these fellas being in gangs, it’s what the gangs do that is the issue for me. If the gangs are playing football or rugby that’s fine. If they are playing chess, if they are crocheting I really don’t care. It’s when they are out on a Friday night stabbing each other, that becomes an issue for me.”
— John Carnochan

Location: Glasgow
Date: Tuesday, 22nd January 2020
Company: Scottish Violence Reduction Unit
Role: Former Detective Chief Superintendent

When John Carnochan joined Strathclyde Police as deputy head of CID in 2002, Glasgow, in particular, was experiencing extreme levels of violent crime. Scotland had become the murder capital of Europe and had five times the murder rate of London.

The methods used by the police were mostly ineffective, so John took a radical approach, launching the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) and the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence. This initiative offered education, health services, careers advice, social services and diversionary projects to the most vulnerable gang members.

The VRU was a massive success. In 2004/05 there were 137 homicides in Scotland. By 2016/17 this number had dropped to 62, attempted murders dropped from 828 to 317, and serious assaults fell by almost half.

In this interview, I talk to John Carnochan, former Detective Chief Superintendent. His Violence Reduction Unit and Community Initiative to Reduce Violence program helped significantly reduce violent crime and homicide rates in Scotland

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/how-scotland-reduced-violent-crime-john-carnochan

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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