Its simple, there is no real consequence to criminal acts which outweighs the benefit to criminals and kids alike. Once that is firstly addressed then maybe steps can be taken to persuade kids to change their ways. Nulabour PLC have not helped either due to their ignorance and incompetence

C Kroustis, London, UK

She is absolutely right.They need to be taken away from the failing parents and re-trained.Most of them are beyond conventional 'therapeutic' help,therefore some form of national service,with strong male role models and discipline will replace the 'gang' family.

v.j, london, uk

Antoine, you mentioned the inner-city riots of the early 1980s. Those riots were the turning point, when under cover of the Scarman report the state effectively surrendered control of inner-cities to gangs - all in the interests of 'community relations'.
We are now living with the consequences.

Jeremy, Lincoln,

How come no-one has anything to say about the gang and knife culture being imported to this country; a race issue?? Students used to be one of the best voices for social change, now they don't care because their origins are not in this country.

Redandover60, Hayes, Middlesex, England

It's easy to say "blame the government" for all the ills of society, and expect the government of the day to sort everything out. Statistically over 90% of the young people we are talking about come from broken homes where there is no effective father and no discipline.

D.Lavery, York,

KIDS ARE ANGRY. If this government had paid for my mother to have me to some one she didn't know. or because it was the only way she could get a house. And the constant stream of different partners that the Feminist lobbyists say she has to have. I would be angry. The kids aren't bad our society is

Mark, Gateshead, UK

1930's razor gangs, 1950's teddy boys, 1960's mods and rockers, 1970's punks, 1980's skinheads. Plus ça change.

HC, LONDON,

Unfortunately we did not clamp down early or hard enough on the black gang culture for fear of the PC brigade, this culture has now begun to infect our indiginous youth.
Also, if there is no fear of authority, how the hell do you expect these youths to obey the law.
Iron fist is needed.

Pete, St Albans, England

What can the population expect when Cameron has yet to withdraw and apologize for his slogan "Hug a Hoodie" and total failure to endorse a Zero Tolerance policy

Peter Hughes, Burnham, England

It started under Thatcher, accelerated under Blair, morality replaced by materialism. I want therefore I am.

Kevin, Leeds,

This chief constable is, like all the people who comment on this issue, again talking in platitudes.
GET TO THE REMEDY: WE NEED EXPERT SOCIOLOGISTS TO BE MORE ACTIVE IN SOCIETY.

R. Ince, Istanbul, Turkey

Pay back time for decades of feminism and woolly liberal culture? Parents unable to discipline their own children? Families with no father (pace human fertilisation bill - kids no longer require a father). The list of attacks on family life is endless...

Paul , London,

The longer someone is in custody for, is longer that they are not committing crimes out on the street. Lets stop being soft on criminals.

Arthur, Newcastle,

We live in a time when its not cool to be clever in school and to disrupt classroom teaching with mindless behaviour is regarded as smart. We have created a nation of thickos through our inability to enforce any form of discipline and personal responsibility in schools and at home. Feral rules,OK.

Dr. Jimmy, Nottingham, England

state welfare system = sense of entitlement = someone else will provide for me = someone else will also take the blame when things go wrong. We seem to forget that with rights come responsibilities. Accountability does not start and end with the government. We must start keeping our side of the deal

Alex, London,

Millions of fatherless children and immigrants who come from regions where it is accepted infact necessary to carry a knife are partly to blame for this explosion which will not be curtailed until there is some real deterrent.

rob, ashbourne, uk

Could the clue be in the messenger. Why should children feel loyalty to parents who are 'following promising careers' or are the 'longest-serving' in their job. After all, if your parents think a day in the office is better than a day with you, there's always the thugs next door to hang out with.

Peter, Sittingbourne,

Why are we the victims of street violence ,it is time to change the rules of engagement ,time to claim back the streets for ourselvs .We need a police force that is strong that shows zero tolerance to violence and a system that removes these offenders from the streets .

Robert, London, UK

As a society we have lost the ability to both provide financially and bring up our families with time spent with our children. It is impossible for many families to provide through just one wage. There is too much social deprivation with families feeling devalued. Fully agree with Ms Wilding.

Mary Bradshaw, Basingstoke, United Kingdom

Well done feminism...

Simon, York, England

This is the First time I have ever agreed with a Police Woman or Man. So why is Government policy driving this Phenomena.?Is it not to keep a lot of Police offiicers in Work?

Mark, Gateshead, uk

I will help the American understand.

"angry young people" - people who haven't lived very many years, who are angry

"deprived parts" of cities - city bits that don't have as much as other bits do

"areas of extreme deprivation" - as above, but worse

"prolific offenders" - prolific means 'lots'

Rachel, London,

Where are these kids parents? The problems start in the home. Teenage single mums and absent fathers.

Young girls get pregnant in their teens and are given a flat!
Put them in a hostel with a creche and make them work. Currently there are no downsides to irresponsible actions for them.

Philip, London, UK

Political correctness has blinkered any meaningful analysis of gang culture. We know that it has been spawned from the Afro Caribbean community, on whom the liberal multi-culturalists have imposed 'victimhood' status. Hence their corruption of the notion of the word 'respect'.

paul, richmond,

"The problem is that society has become too soft"
"must give police the power to updold the law"
NO to both statements.
Due to the lack of will shown by police to actually get on the streets and deal with youth crime these kids grow into hardcore criminals. ALL the powers are in place, now USE em

Ken.Wyatt, Todmorden, UK

What did you expect? Individual rights vs social responsibilities, single parenthood and divorce as a way of life, politicization of issues such as race and class (are you 'poor' or belong to an ethnic minority? You MUST be a victim): they have been taught that whatever they do is their right.

Giovanni, Vienna, Austria

Thatcher?
It's been a labor government, a Marxist London mayor, and a VERY PC LIBERAL secular progressive agenda that has had a stranglehold on Britain for the last 14 years. The net result is social/moral anarchy, a cultural meldown & the disintegration of the family. No wonder Lord of the Flies.

cathy hansen , ruckersville, virginia, usa

This has very little to do with Thatch, who advocated individual responsibilty, and a hell of a lot more to do with the left wing's chickens coming home tto roost. Undermining the family, education and the work ethic whislt creating a benefit dependent hand-out class are all the works of the left.

Colin, Glasgow, UK

The first step to re-habilitation of society would be to do something meaningful in respect of the unlawful supply of dangerous drugs, and unfettered welfare benefits. I would suggest the death penalty for trafficking in narcotics and forming paid Labour Groups to attend to coastal erosion.

Robert El-Cid, Kirk Ella, Haltemprice., East Yorks.,

Our society is not protecting children from useless parents. I mean keep then in in bad areas, lock up the knives ,search their rooms. Comp education fails these boys.
Our law and society excuses male violence though.
this is not OK and we should put kind powerful men back on the streets .

Kim, Tooting, UK

what happen in England is the same as in the USA but only 10 years later like everything (taking people to court as another example) . Why don't we look now to see what will happen in 10 years and what solutions are the USA puttingg in place to combact the gang ?

jp, london,

This is the Price for years of Social Government Policy that has forced young Women to have children outside of the structure of a stable realtionship. This policy is the root of the problem and could be solved in a heart beat. However a lot of Police men would be out of work

Mark, Gateshead, uk

Thaterism is the answer not the cause. The youth must be educated to learn to pursue opertunities. This must be done locally. The historical cause is the Bevan welfare state creating generations of people with dependency ingrained. Now the youth have beome gang culture dependent.

Mark Kennedy-Stewart, Edinburgh, UK

What a surprise. A police chief exculpating herself from the rise in violent crime.

Any policy changes will be suverted by the judicial establishment. Only way to fix things is to make the criminal justice system accountable to those affected: we need elected Chief Constables and elected DPPs.

KB, London, UK

I believe that overpopulation is one of the contributing factors. There are simply too many people in our society to cope with and support. Unfortunately it is often the non-functional families who have larger number of children. We need to invest a lot of money into re-educating people from scratch

Rebecca, London,

has its roots in the Thatcher "me, me" era
Chris, Ashford, Middx, England

This is just codswallop. The Thatcher era taught us to strive and aspire, that anything is possible no matter what your background, to achieve.

Labour teaches youths there is no individual responsibility and no blame.

Helen E., London, UK

With role models like Kate Moss, Pete Docherty, Joey Barton and Amy Winehouse who get millions of pounds for their illegal behaviour what do you expect.
And to blame Mrs thatcher is ludicrous. 11 years ago labour came to power saying 'things can only get better'
Really?

rob, ashbourne, uk

Be careful: deprivation, family breakdown etc are not the CAUSES.

There is an individual decision, made in the mind of every single youth who commits crime, to take what they haven't earned, to damage what is not theirs, to attack and to kill.

And we as a society don't punish them for it.

Laura Roberts, London, UK

For the gentleman and anyone else who thinks NATIONAL SERVICE, may I ask why the Armed Forces should shoulder the burdens of society, whilst it already has enormous problems of its own. Conscription is a means of ensuring a strong Military ability at times of crisis - nothing else.

Tony, Kentsboro, England

"Many have experienced family breakdown." Exactly. The family is in meltdown in Britain but the socialist government still makes war on marriage and makes it more profitable for tax purposes not to be married. But will the Tories do any different and save our society and way of life?

George, Bolton, England

We once had a wide range of local businesses owned by hard working local people in our local communities where our local youth could see the future potential from their own, personal efforts. Such a community gave everyone an attainable aiming point for their lives if they in turn stuck to the rules

Chris Coles, Medstead, Alton, United Kingdom

Today, local investment in locally owned employment has been destroyed by the idea that only investment by a Venture Capitalist in a business owned by a Venture Capitalist that must then be sold to a major company can be permitted. How many truly locally owned employers have YOU got in YOUR town ? ?

Chris Coles, Medstead, Alton, United Kingdom

Conservatives must be aware that economic cost analysis is not the only weapon against the creeping socialism of gynotopia. Otherwise if a policy turns an apparent economic profit, they necessarily find themselves supporting it, however damaging to the fabric of society. Theres a moral test !

poiuyt, london, uk

The problem is that society has become too soft. Freedom and law and order are on opposite sides of the scale. If you want law and order you must give police the power to updold the law. the police must do the job of policing rather than sit at desk filling in forms.

P. Martins, London, UK

It has its roots in the Thatcher "me, me" era and nothing has been done since to counter that.

Chris, Ashford, Middx, England

The inner city riots of the 'glorious Thatcher era' were social rebellions over inequity. Social breakdown, the alienation of deprived children into violent gang culture - and criminality - is in an entirely different category.

pleroma, Munkkiniemi , Finland

I'm sorry; I'm an American. Could someone please translate:

"angry young people"
"deprived parts" of cities
"areas of extreme deprivation"
"disaffected young people"
"prolific offenders"

I assume these are politically-correct euphemisms, but what do they really mean?

Russ Armstrong, Becker, MN, US of A

Two words, NATIONAL SERVICE.

Ben, London, UK

Antoine, not only do I remember them I was caught in one while out shopping. (Moss Side in Manchester) Thatcher does have a lot to answer for but it does not excuse Labour. There promises were "Tough on crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime" After 11 years I'm entitled to hold them to account!

John Goh, Welwyn Garden City, UK

We have been through a Golden age. Our leaders knew from where their power came & said so & the people knew. Today that power lies rejected & it turns its blessings into cursings. From he top to the bottom of society a renewal of that spirit and a return to Yahweh & His Ten Commandments to heal us

Jas, alders, UK

We are now witnessing the results of liberal socialism! This is the result of the children of the sixties and their children. Just wait until the feral youths start to breed! The only solution - anyone with three convictions for violent crime should be terminated - full stop!

peterj, malvern, uk

Haseeb, what has privatisation to do with gang culture? Also, we have always had the rich and the poor - and the poor in the 1950's and 1960's were, materially, much poorer relatively than today. But no institutionalised gang violence then.
Re the taxation - it was ever thus!

Rick, melbourne, Australia

This has to do with citizens getting absolutely nothing for all the taxation we suffer, a culture of privatisation and the crystallisation of class and of wealth in the hands of a few.

Haseeb, London, UK

John remember the inner city riots of the 'glorious thatcher era"

Antoine, Warsaw, Poland

Sooner or later the Labour Party will have to face up to the fact that after 11 years it may have either caused or help create the broken society.

John Goh, Welwyn Garden City, UK