Indeed, unfortunately it's that grass roots community policing that has taken a hit. It's made the police the bad guys again in the communities that they most need on their side. It's why youths are now being targeted again, with these anti knife initiatives, to help prevent it in the future, but it's got years of trust to rebuild so won't help in the short term.
Meanwhile...I simply took the first hit when searching as I heard this on the radio and simply can't believe it...
Diane Abbott wants stop and search REMOVED to bring down London's knife crime epidemic
Note. We ended up here as a Labour chancellor thought it was funny to say there was no money left as he went.
This isn't just the nasty toorreess. Money has to come from somewhere. Who's going to pay? Are we borrowing? Raising taxes? What?
I'm a lifelong Tory and didn't point fingers. Although the current Conservative government (which I voted for and almost certainly will again at the next election) makes the decisions on where the money should be spent.
I'd suggest spending £10 now to save £30 later is just common sense. If it costs more in the long run (taking everything into account) then spend now.
There must be money somewhere as the NHS workers have just been offered a payrise.
If the Government can't protect us, keep us healthy and teach the next generation on what they're currently taxing us, they can either raise taxes, readjust their spending priorities or hand the keys over to that nutter on the Red side.
So we throw money at the problem More police, more community work etc etc... But why is this happening???
Is it some copy cat import from the US or Jamaica? The Rap culture, social media, broken homes, sink estates? I'm no expert but so far all we have discussed is how to combat it with various measures. Whether the police are seen as the enemy or not changes little when a group of youths attack another.
What is feeding this change? Crime has always been around and statistics do lie. These are street murders, one or two a day. How many parents would feel comfortable knowing their 18 year old is walking home at night in Hackney?
Just heard the Mayor's first interview since this all exploded. Very, very weak responses to the questions raised about his lack of visibility, stating it's been on social media.
Looking like it will just reflect many opinions on here too, with some obvious political point scoring which will go nowhere to solve the issue with violent crime.
Edit: Link is now up
Sadiq Khan Admits He Hasn’t Met Bereaved Families Of London Gang Violence - LBC
That interview shows his response has been much worse than I originally thought. It's almost like, 12 dead so far, what's the issue?
Like terrorism... Part and parcel of living in a big city Mr Khan?
I don't think it's that he doesn't care. He's already been implementing efforts against violent crime before the story exploded.
What it does show is that he was woefully unprepared to answer questions about this .I'm guessing he's had family time, but doesn't excuse being absent since it's become headline news.
Between the point scoring he has got a point that this is a national issue. Rise in youth crime is affecting many of our cities outside the capital. Everyone needs to work together rather than try to make it party political.
I don't like him. Here he is wanting an apology for something that happened a hundred years ago.
Sadiq Khan calls on Government to apologise for colonial massacre of almost 400 Sikhs
“It is wrong that successive British governments have fallen short of delivering a formal apology to the families of those who were killed,” he said.
Would he apologise as a Muslim on behalf of all Muslims for recent terrorism? Or is that nothing to do with him?
Which?
False equivalence there - one is a govt, the other a people