|
Gangs of London Gun crime has almost trebled in London in the past year. Police chiefs fear that Britain is witnessing the kind of cocaine-fuelled violence that burst upon American cities in the 1980s. Cocaine, particularly from Jamaica, now floods into Britain, while the availability of weapons - many of them from eastern Europe - is also increasing. Accompanied with the guns and drugs is the emergence of gangs that are bringing misery and murder to British inner cities. The growth of gangs is alarming. In Tower Hamlets, East London, there are 26 Bangladeshi street gangs with the most known being the Brick Lane Massive, Cannon Street Road Posse and the Stepney Street Posse. The gangs are territorial tagging up their turf and fighting armed battles over the drug distribution. In Harlesden, North West London, a small community of 20,000 with a predominantly afro-Caribbean population, there have been numerous feuds and shootings related to crack dealing gangsters. The community attracted national attention in 2000 when 8 people were gunned down in drug turf wars. In 2002, 7 year old Toni-Ann Byfield and her father were executed by a hitman in Harlesden, the father Bertram was a known drug user and dealer. The Stonebridge estate in the east of Harlesden in 2005 received national attention again when three people were shot dead in an apartment and an 18 month old baby was left on the floor covered in blood. The scale of violence and the growing number of gangs in the capital is cause for concern. Few communities are unaffected the gangs in the capital come from many countries including Turkey, Nigeria, Somalia, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh as well as England. Black people are the victims of 75% of London gun murders and non-fatal shootings, 80% of the shooters are also black. In the northern city of Manchester young people involved with gun crime should not expect to live beyond 24. In London Operation Trident was set up in 1998 to deal with black gun crime in Lambeth, Brent, Hackney, Southwark and Haringey. There have been 361 homicides in those areas in the past 5 years. The gang and gun problem is far from the scale of that in the USA however it is worryingly increasing at an alarming rate. The problem areas are those deprived inner city areas that still lack the attention and investment they desired back in the 1980s when rioting occurred. The Gangs in London web-site was created to educate and inform people on the emerging gang and gun culture. It also provides links to crime stoppers and other prevention schemes aimed at stopping the problems. The sites purpose is to inform youth and parents of what is happening and from reading the information it is clear to see that the lifestyle does not have a happy ending. |