Written question asked by Lord Spellar (Labour) on Thursday, 22 March 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 26 March 2007. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Monday, 16 April 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Crime: USA

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department had with the police departments of (a) Chicago, (b) New York and (c) Los Angeles on methods of countering street gangs and gang culture.

Answer: The Strategic Criminal Use of Firearms Intelligence review was carried out in 2005 jointly by the Home Office Police Standards Unit (PSU) and the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Criminal Use of Firearms Group. This involved visits to New York, Boston and Washington, and discussions with Police Departments, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.The PSU funded ACPO Criminal Use of Firearms Group also visited Washington to learn about gangs and gang culture in the USA. A representative of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) recently attended an ACPO Criminal Use of Firearms Intelligence Sub-Group meeting in the UK and presented details of the LAPD forensic approach to tackling gun crime involving gangs.The current Director of the Home 0ffice PSU Police and Crime Standards Directorate is Paul Evans, the former Commissioner of Boston Police, who has extensive experience of dealing with gun crime and gangs in the USA.The learning from these visits and discussions with law enforcement personnel in other jurisdictions is incorporated into police control strategies.

Secondary information