How does CIRV work?
How does CIRV work?
CIRV works by treating the gang as a unit rather than as individuals and using the gang themselves to address their own behaviour.
Following intelligence gathering, gang members are approached by CIRV street level workers with the offer of help to find an alternative to a violent gang lifestyle. They are then invited to voluntarily attend a self-referral session. Groups of different gangs are brought in to attend a carefully scripted meeting (the self-referral session) where they are addressed by a senior police officer, an A&E consultant, members of their community and the parent of a victim, among others. The senior officer assures the gang members that they will all leave after the meeting, but that if any of them – including members not present – commits an assault/murder, they will pursue the whole group, not just the individual. This has the effect of pushing gangs to police their own behaviour. The A&E consultant talks about the problems of trying to patch up victims and offenders, the community members speak about the damage the gang is doing to the community and the victim’s parent tells of the impact gang violence has had on their life.
Gang members are then given the phone number of a “one stop shop” where they are given help to access education, health services, careers advice, social services and diversion if they want to turn their lives around.
Self-referral sessions are repeated as and when necessary and the intervention is supported by thorough intelligence gathering and operational activity.
Not all gang members come to us via this route. Some will never attend a court session – indeed, for some, the simple idea of being in court is too much. Others will attend two or three self-referral sessions before they sign up. Some will come to us via word of mouth.
Once a gang member has signed up, their needs are assessed and they are putting on relevant programmes. These range from anger management and conflict resolution to employment skills such as CV writing and interview techniques all the way through to physical activities like football.
CIRV is about influencing behavioural change. We know this is not a straightforward process and that gang members are unlikely to change their behaviour drastically overnight. Those that do commit acts of violence while working with CIRV are disengaged from the group, although we do believe in second chances.
Although it is still too early to tell how much of an impact CIRV is having, we have had some success stories.
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