This page contains key Government publications that are relevant to gun crime.
Published in May 2008, this guide sets out a range of key approaches to tackling violent street gangs used in the four Tackling Gangs Action Programme (TGAP) areas and other cities. It aims to support your local partnership in devising a gangs strategy, and then in understanding the range of tools available to deliver that strategy (including prevention, targeted work with individual gang members, risk assessment, mediation and transformation, enforcement and community reassurance. Each section provides a number of possible interventions that your local area might consider adapting to your local circumstances.
This guide will be useful to all local partners, at both the strategic and operational levels, with a role in tackling violent street gangs, including:
Download guide - PDF (file size: 2.3Mb)
It is important to note, however, that this is not a definitive guide to what your local partnership should do. It is instead the first step in gathering together examples of the activity that is being undertaken by local areas – much of which has not yet been fully evaluated.
As part of the Government‘s continued commitment to working with communities to deal with gun crime, knife crime and gang issues, a second Connected conference was held. The Connected 2 event took place on 24 May 2006 in Oxford.
Full report of the Connected 2 Conference - PDF (file size: 1718kb)
The Connected conference was held in Birmingham in January 2004. Participants from around the country came together for two days to investigate the nature and causes of, and possible responses to, gun culture and gun crime. The event was organised by the Home Office to find out what more could be done by the community and the Government working together on these issues. The participants included young people, officers from local authorities, police officers, teachers, central Government civil servants, activists on gun crime issues, youth workers, voluntary sector representatives and others with direct experience of gun crime.
Full report of the Connected Conference (file size: 569kb)
This report contains a summary of this event. It includes a foreword by Home Office Minister Caroline Flint, proposals by participants as to what should be done, and how to develop an action strategy to tackle gun crime.
The purpose of this Thematic Inspection is to examine the issue of gun crime and clearly to identify necessary steps to bring about an improved police response. The report identified three distinct aspects that need to be considered and drawn together: the nature and extent of the problem, the role of the community, and finally the police response.
Guns, Community and Police – HMIC Thematic Inspection into the Criminal Use of Firearms May 2004
This document contains a thorough study of the current situation, and proposes nine recommendations for the police and the Home Office. A large part of the report focuses on community engagement. It also includes the joint Action Plan prepared by the Home Office, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and HMIC, written in December 2003: “Tackling the Illegal Possession and Criminal Use of Firearms”.