Words to beat weapons as warring gangs are summoned to peace talks

LONDON'S most violent gang members are to be invited to face-to-face meetings using tactics copied from the Northern Ireland peace process.

Feuding gangsters will be invited to one-to-one sessions with independent teams of mediators in an effort to end the bloodshed on the capital's streets.

The initiative will also draw lessons from a remarkable truce between two notorious New Jersey gangs, the Bloods and the Crips.

Peter O'Neill, a retired detective from the West Midlands, where a similar scheme has been successful, is launching the plan.

He said words have proved to be a potent weapon in the battle against gun and knife crime in Birmingham.

Mr O'Neill said: "Our purpose is to reduce the need to use violence and therefore reduce the number of clashes. We are about saving lives."

Scotland Yard put youth violence at the top of its agenda after a record 28 teenagers were killed last year. Police estimate there are more than 171 street gangs in London.

Mr O'Neill said the project copies Northern Ireland peace process tactics. He also studied a truce between gangs in Newark, New Jersey, in 2005. The truce designated public places such as parks and houses of worship as neutral zones and gangs agreed not to encroach on each others' communities.

Mr O'Neill said many disputes involved issues such as respect. He said: "It is usually around money or respect issues or very often, the most common form is retaliatory action for something that has been done."

Approaches to feuding gang members will be made through those already in contact with troubled young people. The police and local authorities will be able to refer individuals for mediation.

Mr O'Neill said: "The service we offer gives an alternative for people to resolve a conflict without losing face. We also give people the opportunity for an honourable exit from the environment they are living in."

The mediation project, Capital Conflict Management, was set up last April with £300,000 funding from the Safer London Foundation charity.

At least 12 mediators, including youth workers, businessmen and housewives, have been trained to resolve conflicts.

The service is independent of the police. A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "We believe conflict resolution, as part of a wide range of other preventative measures, will provide an opportunity to prevent disputes escalating into violence and crime."