Jacob on BBC Newsnight

No One is Born as a Criminal

On 5 December 2011, our presenter at Reprezent 107.3 FM, Jacob S, was on BBC Newsnight as one of the panellists in the discussion on the riots that spread across England this summer, representing the voice of young London.

Of the many factors of this disorder, a deep mistrust of the police is revealed to be one of the main causes as recent rigorous research conducted by the Guardian and London School of Economics, Reading the Riots, shows. Seeking to bring different views together, the presenter of Newsnight, Jeremy Paxman, looked into the issue of stop and search by the police with Lord Blair (Met Police Commissioner 2005-8), Nick Herbert  MP (Criminal Justice & Policing Minister), David Lammy MP (Labour), Professor Tim Newburn (LSE), Liz Pilgrim (Shop owner), and Jacob Sakil.

The picture of the riots drawn from the discussion was far more complex than the tabloid image of chaotic and rootless young people. A number of issues facing young people, such as the pressure of poverty and the record level of youth unemployment, were debated.

Jacob, while expressing his sympathies on the damages done to the local communities, articulated concern on unfair treatment of young people by the police. Also, he brought up a meaningful point that the society should invest what is needed in family, community and schools to support and help young people. As Jacob’s remarks, “no one is born as a criminal (…) they [people who participated in the riots] were not being helped when needed” indicates, what is urgently required is not to simply place the blame on a lack of morals of young people, but to understand a bigger picture of the society that discourages young people with the economic crisis and ever-growing levels of youth unemployment.