23/4/2008Three gang suspects arrested in dawn raids
EXCLUSIVE
By CHRIS IRVINE
THREE suspected gang ringleaders have been
arrested in a series of dawn raids in Glasgow.
The teenagers, aged between 16 and 18, were woken by plain clothes officers just after 6.30am and led handcuffed into waiting cars.
Police said they would be quizzed in connection with up to nine charges including assault and breach of the peace.
A total of 15 officers - six from the new Strathclyde Gang Task Force - targeted the three addresses in Darnley.
Despite taking battering rams, the plain-clothed officers calmly knocked on one door.
Minutes later, a teenager was taken, bleary eyed and in handcuffs, to an unmarked police car while his mother looked on.
One officer from the task force said they tried to avoid making the arrest traumatic as there were children as young as 12 in the house.
Chief Inspector Gordon Cummings said gang
members suspected of intimidation, property damage and assault were being targeted in the raids.
And he warned there would be no let-up in their efforts to reclaim the streets for people.
He said: "We want to show to gang members that this is going to happen to you - we are working on a zero tolerance policy and we are also attempting to stop public fear."
Mr Cummings, who is based at Pollok police station, said gangs were very tight knit.
He said: "Some people are bound by territorialism, but we want to work with agencies to change that perception.
"There are ringleaders targeted but there could be gang members afraid to speak up - it doesn't have to be this way."
Strathclyde Police has
recently begun working with partners including Glasgow Housing Association and the Glasgow Community Safety Services to crackdown on gangs.
Mr Cummings added: "We want these people to know that if they commit an offence they will go into the criminal justice system, but that is not the end of it.
"We will disclose the
information to housing officers, who also may share with us information we do not have, and there is a very real
prospect that if you are charged you will lose your house.
"Hopefully the Sheriff Court will set curfew bails, where they cannot go out
after 7pm and that will help the situation."
The dawn raid comes just weeks after the Evening Times told how gang members were terrorising the streets of nearby Arden with teenagers throwing bricks at buses on their way to Darnley.
Residents told how they were virtually prisoners in their own homes because they were scared to go out.
Leaflets targeting youth disorder are being distributed to both Darnley and Arden
encouraging people to become more actively involved and report crime.
The new Gangs Task Force was set up by Strathclyde Police's new Chief Constable Steve House and is made up of specialist officers from throughout the force.
The unit, based at Saracen police station, has been told to specifically target leaders and members of gangs, by any means necessary.
chris.irvine@eveningtimesco.uk
By CHRIS IRVINE
THREE suspected gang ringleaders have been
arrested in a series of dawn raids in Glasgow.
The teenagers, aged between 16 and 18, were woken by plain clothes officers just after 6.30am and led handcuffed into waiting cars.
Police said they would be quizzed in connection with up to nine charges including assault and breach of the peace.
A total of 15 officers - six from the new Strathclyde Gang Task Force - targeted the three addresses in Darnley.
Despite taking battering rams, the plain-clothed officers calmly knocked on one door.
Minutes later, a teenager was taken, bleary eyed and in handcuffs, to an unmarked police car while his mother looked on.
One officer from the task force said they tried to avoid making the arrest traumatic as there were children as young as 12 in the house.
Chief Inspector Gordon Cummings said gang
members suspected of intimidation, property damage and assault were being targeted in the raids.
And he warned there would be no let-up in their efforts to reclaim the streets for people.
He said: "We want to show to gang members that this is going to happen to you - we are working on a zero tolerance policy and we are also attempting to stop public fear."
Mr Cummings, who is based at Pollok police station, said gangs were very tight knit.
He said: "Some people are bound by territorialism, but we want to work with agencies to change that perception.
"There are ringleaders targeted but there could be gang members afraid to speak up - it doesn't have to be this way."
Strathclyde Police has
recently begun working with partners including Glasgow Housing Association and the Glasgow Community Safety Services to crackdown on gangs.
Mr Cummings added: "We want these people to know that if they commit an offence they will go into the criminal justice system, but that is not the end of it.
"We will disclose the
information to housing officers, who also may share with us information we do not have, and there is a very real
prospect that if you are charged you will lose your house.
"Hopefully the Sheriff Court will set curfew bails, where they cannot go out
after 7pm and that will help the situation."
The dawn raid comes just weeks after the Evening Times told how gang members were terrorising the streets of nearby Arden with teenagers throwing bricks at buses on their way to Darnley.
Residents told how they were virtually prisoners in their own homes because they were scared to go out.
Leaflets targeting youth disorder are being distributed to both Darnley and Arden
encouraging people to become more actively involved and report crime.
The new Gangs Task Force was set up by Strathclyde Police's new Chief Constable Steve House and is made up of specialist officers from throughout the force.
The unit, based at Saracen police station, has been told to specifically target leaders and members of gangs, by any means necessary.
chris.irvine@eveningtimesco.uk