Teenage knife crime 'is one of biggest threats to London' / Times, 29 March 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3640626.ece
"The huge rise in the number of teenagers being killed on the streets of London is the biggest threat facing the capital after terrorism, senior police officers believe"

Schoolgirl speaks out about culture of teenage gang violence / Times, 30 March 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article3646293.ece
"A 15-year-old schoolgirl from south London has described how no fewer than seven of her friends and relatives have been murdered in the past two years."

Coming soon: superfast internet / Times, 6 April
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article3689881.ece
"The internet could soon be made obsolete. The scientists who pioneered it have now built a lightning-fast replacement capable of downloading entire feature films within seconds.
At speeds about 10,000 times faster than a typical broadband connection, “the grid” will be able to send the entire Rolling Stones back catalogue from Britain to Japan in less than two seconds."

Warfare between schools can be tamed by bringing enemies together / Times, 7 April
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article3694967.ece
"Conflict between schools has in recent years been compounded by gang violence and fighting with weapons. Now pupils from rival schools who wield influence among their peers are being brought together on neutral territory as part of a scheme that uses various tactics to defuse hostility and has been credited with big reductions in antisocial behaviour. "

Drug addicts and alcoholics on benefits double in a decade / Telegraph, 4 April 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/03/naddict103.xml
"In 2007 a total of 51,410 people picked up the benefit because they were classified as suffering from alcoholism - a rise from the 1997 figure of 26,800."

Google Earth launches refugee function / Telegraph, 8 April 2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/08/wgoogle108.xml
"Google Earth, used by spy agencies and terrorists to locate targets, is now hoping to redress the balance by showcasing the plight of refugees. Agencies can overlay text, audio and video information onto Google Earth Google and the UN refugee agency have unveiled a new online mapping programme that provides a close-up view of some of the world's major humanitarian crises."

[US] Child maltreatment 2006 / Administration for Children and Families, April 2008
PDF - http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/cm06.pdf
"This report summarizes child abuse statistics submitted by states to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) during 2006."

Police performance management: practical guidance for police authorities / Home Office, June 2006
PDF - http://digbig.com/4wrnw

Forensic Science Regulator Newsletter: Issue nine / Home Office, 28 March 2008
PDF - http://digbig.com/4wrnx

The £6bn question: is UK economy dependent on imported labour or does a migrant cap fit? / Guardian, 2 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/02/immigration.immigrationpolicy?gusrc=rss&feed=society

The success stories we never hear about / Guardian, 2 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/02/prisonsandprobation.housing?gusrc=rss&feed=society
"Homeless ex-prisoners are bound to reoffend, says Eric Allison
...A current resident, Carl, who used drugs for 30 years, told me: "I walked in here a shell. It was gently broken open, and the real me came out." He has been drug-free and crime-free since leaving prison almost two years ago."

Help! I need somebody / Guardian, 4 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/04/publicsectorcareers.mentalhealth?gusrc=rss&feed=society
"Senior managers are too scared to admit to problems, as the pressure to achieve more grows. [...] Leadership is an art; its nature, and what makes it different from management, is often debated. Less debated, still, is the nature of the strain that leading from the front places on senior managers."

Teens 'used networking site to arrange gang fights' / Guardian, 28 March 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/28/internet.news?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
"Detectives acted on intelligence that youngsters had used the internet site Bebo to arrange a series of confrontations involving rival groups across Derby between November and January, Derbyshire police [have reported]. "

Drink-fuelled antics? Not our fault, say students / Observer, 30 March 2008
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2269356,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
"College leaders have attacked firms organising pub crawls. But the companies say it is student unions themselves that foster the worst excesses "

Home Office Task Force on Child Protection on the Internet: Good practice guidance for the providers of social networking and other user interactive services 2008 / Home Office, 4 April 2008
PDF - http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/news-and-publications/publication/operational-policing/social-networking-guidance?view=Binary
"The first UK Social Networking Guidance provides advice for industry, parents and children about how to stay safe online. This has been developed by a taskforce of representatives from industry, charity and law enforcement agencies including Vodafone, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC)."

Police criminalising young to hit targets, says charity / Guardian, 3 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/03/youngpeople?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
"· Detection rate drive behind 39% rise in minor offences
· Tougher action replacing ticking-off for young teens
A police drive aimed at thousands of low-level teenage offenders lies behind an apparent surge in youth crime figures, according to an analysis published [by the charity, Nacro]. Police figures suggest reported minor offences by young people soared by 38.9% from 2003-2006, and detected serious offences rose by 19%."
Nacro Press Release: Some facts about children and young people who offend / Nacro, 3 April 2008
http://www.nacro.org.uk/templates/news/newsItem.cfm/2008040300.htm
[Full report available fromm Nacro, tel: 020 7840 7216]

Independent Safeguarding Authority to launch in 2009 / Home Office, 1 April 2008
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/independent-safeguarding-date
"The authority, which will vet those wishing to work with children or vulnerable adults, will begin work in October 2009. When fully up and running, the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) will be part of the biggest overhaul of vetting and barring arrangements ever undertaken in this country. The authority was first established in January after being called for in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006."

New unified border agency launches / Home Office, 3 April 2008
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/uk-border-agency-launch
"Plans for the new UK Border Agency (new window) were first announced in November 2007, and it began operations this week. It is a shadow agency of the Home Office - and because of that it will need to go through a transition period while it takes on some of the features of a full agency."
UK Border Agency Business Plan: April 2008- March 2011 / UK Border Agency, April 2008
PDF - http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/documents/aboutus/businessplan/april2008march2011/ukborderagencybusinessplan.pdf?view=Binary

Tales of belonging / Guardian, 7 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/apr/07/britishidentity.immigration?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
"Last week the impact of immigration on Britain was again under the spotlight. But what do those who have made the journey to this country think about it all? From the survivor of the Warsaw uprising to the Tory councillor from Australia, the Windrush war veteran to the Somalian refugee, we interview people who have settled in Britain in every decade since the 1940s."

Rivers of blood? No. Just a divided idea of what Britishness means / Guardian, 7 April 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/apr/07/britishidentity.communities?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
Madeleine Bunting
"Britain has a vibrant tradition of racism, and the quest to define our nationality is beginning to go seriously awry. Britishness is like a scab we can't stop scratching. One event after another propels it centre stage, where the subject proliferates questions: how are we to define it, teach it, feel it, promote it, be proud of it, symbolise it and celebrate it? Alongside this relentlessly upbeat, politically sponsored debate is another, far darker version that is having ample play in the run-up to the 40th anniversary of Enoch Powell's infamous "rivers of blood" speech on April 20."