BIG INTERVIEW: Met's big idea starts to pay off - Commander Steve Roberts, head of youth policy unit, Metropolitan Police, London

Roberts' candid comments encapsulate the thrust of the Met's five-year youth strategy, published last week. His job is to get London's police forces working more closely with agencies that actually do work with young people, such as youth offending teams and local education departments (YPN, 12-18 March).

"The Met had lost its corporate expertise as regards what it was doing with youth," says Roberts. "We didn't have a clear direction. But we could see there was a whole series of problems that neither we nor our partners were addressing in a very coherent way."

Enforcement of the law is the primary function of police, but Roberts says a long-term alternative strategy for young people was required, given that 80 per cent of young criminals re-offend within two years.