Territorial Extent Gang injunctions
154.Part 4 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”) makes provision for injunctions to prevent gang-related violence (“gang injunctions”). Gang injunctions are a preventative civil order that enable the police or a local authority to apply to a county court(17), or the High Court, for an injunction against an individual to prevent gang-related violence. Gang injunctions allow courts to place a range of prohibitions and requirements (including supportive, positive requirements) on the behaviour and activities of a person (aged 14 or over) involved in gang-related violence. These conditions could include prohibiting someone from being in a particular place or requiring them to participate in rehabilitative activities.
155.The 25 out of then 33 Ending Gang and Youth Violence priority areas(18) that returned data in response to a Home Office survey reported that, between January 2011 (when the provisions in Part 4 of the 2009 Act were brought into force) and January 2014, 108 gang injunctions had been put in place.
156.The Serious and Organised Crime Strategy pointed to the link between urban street gangs and organised crime. At paragraph 2.7, the Strategy stated that “there are connections between gangs and organised crime: urban gang members may engage in street drug dealing on behalf of organised criminals and some gangs aspire to and may become organised crime groups in their own right”. A review of the operation of gang injunctions was published by the Home Office in January 2014(19). Amongst other things, the review found that the definition of a gang used in Part 4 of the 2009 Act was seen by police officers to have some limitations for addressing local gang issues. In response to this finding, the Government undertook to consult interested parties to explore whether the definition of a gang within the legislation should be changed to reflect the evolving nature of street gang activity across the country and ensure that gang injunctions can be used to target the right individuals. Section 51 makes resulting changes to Part 4 of the 2009 Act.