4Front and #KillTheBill -- Why we oppose the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill! #KilltheBill
Young people do not belong in cages. For those who are currently imprisoned, over half of whom are Black and brown, incidents of self harm, violence and suicide in prison at record levels, Despite this desperate situation, the Bill threatens to:
Create Secure Academies to imprison 16-19 year olds. These translate the widely discredited academy school model into the prison estate. Existing academy schools can set up or become ‘Secure Academies’. These youth prisons will be run by private companies.
Massively expanding prison sentences by getting rid of automatic release, increasing the minimum sentences for a range of offences and reducing the age of those who can be given whole-life orders, from 21 to 18.
Many of 4Front’s members have experienced the horrors of imprisonment, suffering the extreme toll that prison has on mental and physical health, as well as on education and development.
Converting schools into prisons, increasing the number of young people held in prison and the time they spend there can only ever cause extreme harm to young people, their friends, families and communities.
“WE NEED EMPOWERMENT FOR OUR YOUTHS, NOT IMPRISONMENT”
THREAD: 4Front and #KillTheBill --Why we oppose the Police, Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill
Bring in new cautions that impose conditions of fines, forced unpaid work, reporting, contact restrictions and more. Breaching these could see young people arrested without a warrant.
Introduce ‘Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs)’, allowing police to stop and search anyone with an SVRO whenever they’re in public without any reason or suspicion. The orders can be renewed indefinitely, if breached, can mean a young person faces up to two years in prison.
THREAD: This Bill threatens to massively expand the surveillance, restrictions and racist policing that already damage the lives of many young people. The Bill threatens to:
Force local councils to answer to police on youth violence, giving police the power to control and fund how schools, colleges, health centres and youth offending teams approach the issue.
Allow police to instruct teachers, youth workers and paramedics to give up a young person’s phone in their possession, to take young people’s data and intercept their communications.
We are commencing legal action against @metpoliceuk . When we believe members of our team have been treated unlawfully by the police, we will seek legal advice and take legal action where necessary. (1/13) #DEFUNDTHEPOLICE
We are appalled by the daily abuse, violence, and harm inflicted specifically on young Black people by the police. The campaign by police to criminalise young Black people is so robust that all those in proximity to them are subjected to maltreatment and criminalisation. (2/13)
On 12/04/2020, our Head of Community Support, @patchy_kusai was unlawfully detained and wrongly issued a Fixed Penalty Notice under COVID-19 legislation while supporting a member of The 4Front Project. (3/13)