MPA Chair calls for change in gun culture and engagement with gunmen

08/04
9 February 2004

The chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority is calling for greater intervention to curb the gun and gang culture in London that blights the lives of victims and gang members alike.

Speaking at the “Guns In Our Community” conference on Tuesday, 10 February, Toby Harris will say that the problem of gun and gang crime can be solved only if all the agencies concerned work with local communities, including the gunmen and gang members themselves.

“I think it is important to say at the outset that if we are to tackle a gun and gang culture that has become a menace in some areas of London and other parts of the country, we can only be successful if we engage with our communities and stakeholders to work jointly on real and lasting solutions,” he will say.

“And of course, we also need to engage with the gunmen and gang members themselves to dissuade them from their negative, dangerous and ultimately self-destructive activities.

“Over the last few years London has experienced a huge surge in gun crime, although recent figures show that the number of offences is starting to fall. However, feedback from communities shows that people simply aren’t experiencing the fall in gun crime that the statistics are showing.

“This increase in firearm offences is part of the escalation of a ‘gun culture’ in London. Young people are more willing to carry firearms than they used to be, needing the security of a gun for protection against members of rival gangs.

“The MPA has carried out a major scrutiny of gun crime over the last six months and we will be sharing the lessons that have been learnt with community leaders and other partners.

“The MPA scrutiny found that there are a number of factors that might encourage young people to get involved in gun crime. High levels of poverty, deprivation and low educational achievement promote a sense of economic hopelessness from which drug dealing, and gun use, provides an escape route.

“Guns carried as glamorous accessories and used to enforce ‘respect’ also exacerbate an already dangerous situation among young people.”

Toby Harris will say that the effects of gun crime are magnified by an apparent lack of confidence in the police to prevent and solve this type of crime. The MPA scrutiny found that 62 percent of respondents to a questionnaire on the subject said they were not very confident or not at all confident about reporting gun crimes to the police.

“To stop the misuse of guns effectively and permanently there is a need to break the cycle of fear and violence that grips many communities. We need to empower local communities, and give them the resources and knowledge to be able to work with the police to effect meaningful and lasting changes.

“The philosophy of this approach is that while law enforcement activities are necessary to rid communities of gun violence, sustainable and meaningful change can only be achieved if a stable, supported community infrastructure is built up at the same time.“

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