The taskforce he set up, co-led by Home Secretary Theresa May and Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, is due to report on ways to tackle the British gang culture in October. Charity leaders have warned that to make effective and meaningful long-term changes, policy must move beyond knee-jerk solutions.
While many recognise that Cameron’s initial "security fight back", which consisted of record police presence and tough justice, was necessary to take back control of the streets, children’s services leaders have warned that police and prisons are not long-term solutions.
"We can’t arrest our way out of this," said Christian Guy, director of policy at the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). "The police can only pick up the symptoms, but we have to be more innovative than that." He pointed out that some of the young people who rioted were raised in unstable, violent or abusive families and suggested the government look at their social backgrounds to come up with relevant solutions.
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