Police to treat gangs like terror suspects

POLICE will treat gang members like terrorism suspects if they use Youtube music videos to incite violence on the streets, under new proposals to tackle the soaring murder rates.

The measures, if taken forward in consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), will mean officers won’t have to prove that specific videos or social media posts were linked to an act of violence.

Currently, police need evidence to specifically link them to certain crimes.

The move will echo terrorism laws, as under the Terrorism Act the offence of inciting a person to commit an act of terrorism does not need to be linked to a particular attack.

Commander Jim Stokley, Scotland Yard’s most senior officer responding to gang crime, told The Times “there isn’t specific legislation” for gangs, adding: “Clearly we can’t use terrorism legislation [but] in consultation with the CPS, we have found some existing legislation which we are going to use.”

It comes after repeated warnings from Cressida Dick, the Met Police commissioner, who singled out Drill music, an extremely graphic form of rap, as having “a terrible effect” on gang violence. In London, more than 60 murder probes have been opened this year alone. Some cases have been linked to the genre of music on social media.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Youtube has removed more than 30 music videos at the request of the Met Police after the force linked them with gang violence. The move would be reliant on getting approval from the judiciary.

Should that fail, attempts to force through a new law could be pursued through the Home Office.