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  • as the mother of a 14 year old boy who has been mugged locally three times last year, once at knifepoint.

  • What is the panel going to do about him?

  • Got Lena.

  • Can you just tell us a bit more about that?

  • So you're local to this area?

  • He was 13 when he was first marked on the high street, which is the Aten, which is a big main road.

  • Hey, just outside this building, yeah, on once in a little park, half three on a Sunday afternoon in broad daylight.

  • And, uh, but he's part of a generation of Children growing up in these parts.

  • Who for them, it's just something that happens.

  • Kate here, her son was marked as before Christmas.

  • It's just like, you know, this.

  • This is just it's an epidemic on DDE.

  • Uh, there's to be no sort of resolution in terms of arresting people.

  • No, no, no.

  • In any of those instances.

  • And what about UK sitting it?

  • Has there been any anyone arrested foot for your son know nothing until now?

  • No, The case was closed after one day.

  • Well, that must have been terrifying for the boys and also for years.

  • His parents.

  • Trevor, do you want to kick us off on this?

  • Uh, I am.

  • Why should first say that?

  • Full disclosure.

  • I was born 10 minutes from here.

  • Andi, I grew up in this area.

  • I lived in up the roads.

  • Everybody in this room will know where wood green is in a postcode, which is N 20 to 6 SX.

  • The typical number off domestic off sexual and violent crimes in a London postcode is 26 in the post code where I grew up.

  • It is 226 last year 226.

  • So this is not for it's not across the city, but where it is.

  • It is incredibly serious.

  • And I I completely feel for you.

  • There are three young people, mostly young men dying in this city every week from knife crimes.

  • We there are two women who died from domestic violence every week, and we have rightly plowed enormous attention and resources into that.

  • We are not yet doing the same thing for these young people.

  • And I think we need to be clear what we're talking about when we're talking about night crime.

  • This is not some accidental thing What is happening here is young people are being hunted down by packs off other people.

  • They're being stabbed on, a stolen from the ones who are dying.

  • There are hundreds in the city who are being stabbed.

  • And forgive me for being absolutely blunt about this.

  • There is now a thing that they do.

  • They stopped kids in the heinous, so they have to wear colostomy bags.

  • This is vicious.

  • It's a war and it's out of control.

  • And we in the authorities seem not to be interest to interested except to say, Let's have an argument about Are there more police?

  • Are there more cut?

  • Actually, everybody knows about this.

  • Note that these kids are doing this in a way that you'd have to have North Korea levels of policing to catch him at it.

  • So I think we've got to do some different things.

  • First, we will go to understand what's happening here, and the first thing is, who's doing do the killing and who's doing dying and let me be absolutely frank.

  • It is young black men who are dying and, by the way, young black men who are doing the killing.

  • So we need to focus on those communities on those areas and not pretend this is something which is just abstract.

  • Secondly, we need to help some of the communities where the young people have come straight from war zones in this area.

  • I think everybody here will know what I'm talking about.

  • We throw them into schools for people who need for people who don't live in here.

  • That way.

  • London is very mixed communities, vibrant all the rest of it.

  • And we've received rightly people from terrible backgrounds, trauma, Children who have seen their relatives killed in front of them.

  • And what do we do?

  • We put them straight into school.

  • We don't help him.

  • We don't give them therapy.

  • That's a kind of thing we need to do.

  • We need to spend first of all, locate the problem properly.

  • Secondly, we need to spend as much as we can to help these young people find a way through.

  • I mean, I could talk about this all night and I know I haven't got time.

  • I feel so passionately about this.

  • I'm sorry, I could go on about it, but let's take this seriously on.

  • Let's not turn this.

  • Let me print into an argument about who's going to spend more and more police.

  • That is not going to be the answer.

  • The answer here is recognized.

  • Who is killing who is dying and help those people, Not some general policy, Theo, Just to add to what Trevor's things we have knife offenses, the motor of the highest level ever recorded.

  • And then today, in terms of offenses recorded that then result in a suspect being charged or summons.

  • That's a record low around just 7% of offenses.

  • So, Mike, obviously, I'm gonna come to, you know, as an ex chief constable of Durham, and you've got first experience off trying to deal with this.

  • What's what's your view?

  • What did you do in Dome to try and have an effect?

  • I'll come to that if I may feel that.

  • First of all, Lean and Kate dreadful that you've had to go serve nation, particularly our Children.

  • And after the show.

  • If if you want to see me, then I'm sure you're being looked after.

  • But I can certainly just make sure that I'm sure the Metropolitan Police and the victim support are doing their best.

  • But I would just if you want?

  • I could just cast an eye over that for you.

  • This is my fault.

  • This is the fault of the police.

  • Because for 39 years now I've done your bidding.

  • I've done it rather well.

  • Actually, I'm found himself.

  • I've locked up a lot of drug dealers when I've locked them up, put them in the court, have gone to prison for a long time.

  • But two hours, hours after I've locked them up behind my back, two more violent drug dealers have tried to take over the patch and the most violent Warner's one.

  • So then I go after the most violent drug dealer that's taken over from the previous one, and this is a Darwinian spiral of violence.

  • Then we're quite sneakers.

  • Cops.

  • We employ undercover cops and we employ double agents on the drug dealers worked out that we don't employ people who were 13 and 14.

  • So that's who they recruit to do their bidding.

  • The people who deliver all the drugs that's wanted in London, principally under 17 on.

  • We've created that we've created that because we've done your bidding.

  • We are never going to arrest.

  • I agree with Trevor.

  • We are never going to arrest our way out of this problem.

  • Of course, the police have got a role to play.

  • Of course, we've got to investigate crime.

  • And of course, it's vital that the attacks on Leaner and Cates Children are investigated fullest extent.

  • But the Watsons 2010 half had had an impact.

  • There's got to be a grown debate about drugs 39 years ago when I joined placing most of the heroin in this country came from Afghanistan.

  • It still does.

  • We've got the same number of police officers, but 100 times more heroin coming from Afghanistan.

  • So what's the answer?

  • Well, the young sarees got to be youth and social provisions.

  • We've got to prevent this.

  • Gotta get upstream on DDE.

  • Sadly, the cuts to pleasing are a mere shadow of the cups to local authority.

  • Budget sold last 10 years.

  • Yeah, it is concerning what they to lady said over there.

  • Three years ago I was mocked while in label I weigh Toho Martin Auntie, Two days in the hospital.

  • Yeah, just down days Stuff for hell Anti Today I haven't had any arrests.

  • Andi clears his clothes andare not at him where I live now in 17th just behind my window, three men fought and killed themselves.

  • I watch everything and nobody us if I'm feeling okay.

  • The psychological effect of the past one.

  • This thing where the killings that have passed away this year just behind my window and no one has acts.

  • How are you faring?

  • Are you OK?

  • Apart from my family?

  • Wasn't doing my school runs for me.

  • So I just want to know, isn't it right for for the government to set out some organization that can give advice?

  • Hunt, you know, anyway, tohave the victims.

  • And how are you faring?

  • So So, Theresa, when you heard the woman there speak so powerful and also heard what might have to say in terms of policing numbers to a certain extent, but nonetheless has made an impact.

  • And also but as nothing might was saying relative to the cuts to local authority budgets.

  • And then we've had a conservative government the last 10 years.

  • Well, this current situation is intolerable.

  • The upsurge in knife crime has to be dealt with.

  • Andi, we are determined to do that.

  • And do you feel in part responsible when you hear someone like my talk about cuts, the local authority budgets, I believe that we need to recruit 20,000 more police.

  • We're committed to doing that.

  • We need a strong police.

  • In response, we've strengthened stopping search powers, which are crucial.

  • We're giving police the Tasers they have requested on.

  • We also fully recognize that we need to invest more in the programs to prevent young people from getting involved in gangs and crime in the first place.

  • And so we've got £700 million worth of programs plan now for exactly that, we need a junior approach.

  • That's a tough policing response to bring the perpetrators to justice, but also a really comprehensive route to try and ensure that young people do not get involved in this kind of cycle of violence in the first place.

  • And to promote that public health approach which has worked so well in Glasgow on many cities in the United States.

  • That is this not just making up for the cuts that you've already made.

  • No, it's not.

  • I mean, if you look at the last time this upsurge in violent crime on the streets of London happened, that was in around 2008 on actually, Boris, as mayor of London, brought the murder rate down by 50% and it went down across the country, not just in.

  • It is possible to do this, and we are determined to do this because we have to keep the only people on the streets of this city on others safe.

  • There's a lot of hands up, so I'm gonna try it.

  • If you give, I'm just gonna get around the audience a little bit.

  • Yes, I just want to follow through with water travels said about the people who are killing are within the black community.

  • The people who are dying are within the black community.

  • So does it mean then that because it's a problem belonging to a particular section of a society, that our government, it does not understand the need or has become desensitized about this population?

  • This group off our population who for some reason, a mer a result from a vicious cycle of deprivation that no one cares to look into?

  • I don't know that policing is the answer to it.

  • I don't know that the political argument about investment is the right answer to this problem.

  • We need to look for the gun days.

  • I'm gonna come back.

  • I think you're absolutely right.

  • This problem began way before cuts to the Met.

  • It began with the up complete abolition of youth service is in all the areas we've just seen.

  • Local service is for you to just stripped out of communities and young men have nowhere to go.

  • They have nowhere to help turn.

  • They have no support.

  • Where did they turn?

  • They turn to each other.

  • They become each other's families.

  • Three cornerstones to young people becoming successful.

  • Adults are self esteem, confidence, self worth on the places where they were getting that were you?

  • Service is without that.

  • This is where the problem began.

  • No, I think these issues are driven by people's consumptions in London.

  • Is that cocaine capital of Europe?

  • I'm sure we've all been to parties.

  • I have where it's like, visibly on show, and people have no qualms about using it on DDE.

  • These people who drawing these dang's they see it because there's money in drug dealing, and so maybe the government needs to look it's drug policies as well.

  • And maybe there's kind of an option in a de criminalization model I have in Portugal or something that might actually solve it from the demand side.

  • I have seen no parties I go to.

  • That may be on the man in the gray swift.

  • Thank you, Tripp.

  • I do agree with what you said about.

  • It's not just police numbers, but I don't think you can underestimate the conservative government's cuts that the police numbers because they're the extra 20,000 police officers that Boris Johnson is gonna recruit will be only just begin to bring the levels back to where they were.

  • But it's such a significant.

  • I think the police number cuts and it has to be taken to consideration the part that has played in life crime.

  • I think you're right.

  • I think that we're not just talking about cuts to police numbers.

  • We're also talking about the about the community support officers who used to be the eyes and ears he used to run the boxing clubs in my area who used to actually have a connection with the community and be able to because communities cannot be pleased, they don't policing isn't something which is done to a community can only be done with the agreement of the community and you must work with the community.

  • I my heart goes out to you, too.

  • You too.

  • I'm a local mother as well.

  • All three of my kids have been mugged.

  • They all have their bicycle stolen, they all.

  • I mean, it's it's it's terrifying.

  • One of the perpetrators was taken to court because it was my daughter actually ran out and got police, can't flagged it down and got the police to arrest the person.

  • But it's terrifying.

  • And it is something that we live with day today, living in the inner city.

  • And there are levels.

  • So there are these this sort of street muggings that go on.

  • And then there is the drug dealers and the drug gangs on.

  • As a local member of Parliament, I have been to so many mothers.

  • House is not just actually black mothers, but but mother throw a ll different types from all different amuses, you know, because the gang is actually a very multi racial on Dr Bean to see, and I go and knock on the door and I give the mom a letter and I say, if you ever need me, I'm here and Sometimes they ask me and immediately, and sometimes they don't.

  • It takes years, and I continue to have families that I continue to look after because nobody ever gets over this on DNA.

  • Not only is the life of the young person who's murdered ruins and they're all of their family, but so is the stupid, terrible young man who was stabbed someone and you in return.

  • If they get court goes to prison and the family's lives erect, we know what the solution is.

  • We have to have more police officers.

  • We have to have more community police officers, but we also have to have more youth service is my borough.

  • Next Door's had 70% cuts from government to its central grant.

  • Hackney has had the same on what happens when you cut back a local authority that much.

  • They only do what the law says they have to do on because the law doesn't say they have to provide youth service is because they have to provide social care and the other things which they must do.

  • Looking after kids in care and that sort of thing they cut back on youth service is they don't want to, but they have to.

  • And then, as somebody else said, what do these youngsters do?

  • And actually, when a child gets to 11 12 13 14 they want to find a role model outside the family because they this part of growing up.

  • And if there isn't a sports teacher or there isn't a youth worker or there isn't a teacher who has the time for them, they will find role models amongst their own age group and basis out gangs developed seven.

  • Well, I don't directly disagree with anything that people have said on this panel and indeed in the audience.

  • And I particularly appreciate the point about middle class drug takers who were sort of, you know, happy toe, take the cocaine on and not worry about who's supplying it at the same time, as well as the mother of a 19 year old.

  • I can tell you I was very relieved when he got to the age of 19 because I felt he was so vulnerable in a neighborhood like this, not very far from here, when he was 14 15 and so on, and I'm glad he's sort of finally getting to manhood.

  • But in my area where there's been several deaths.

  • Unquestionably, it's not just a case of more police, but more visible police on the street.

  • I hope that's what Boris Johnson means by an extra 20,000.

  • I'd like to see a lot more.

  • At one stage, the police came and sat in our area where local use congregated.

  • They were there night after night for about a month, and that finally disrupted the gangs, and they haven't properly returned.

  • It's still a bit scary, but they haven't properly returned to three years on.

  • And that's the importance of having cops that really care about those communities and are determined to just be there until they have done something about the problem.

  • Now.

  • I've also had experience recently of some poor kid dying on the street near me, and there was sort of crime scene ticket tape, and I went up to the local policemen and I said what's happened and he acted like I was, you know, a nobody who had a real nerve to ask what was going on in my own community.

  • So I really do expect police to be polite to the people who live in the area to discuss problems with people who live there.

  • I mean, full.

  • They know.

  • I could have been a witness.

  • I could have seen someone run away.

  • I could have seen someone for a knife in the bin, but they acted like they didn't want to hear from me.

  • And I think a lot of us feel like you could increase police numbers.

  • But what other police actually doing?

  • Are they out there helping us?

  • They have done in the past.

  • I have benefited from that.

  • But no, always.

  • I'd love to see more of that active bobbies on the beat.

  • Whatever.

  • Just active policing so that you can go and call somebody and say, Hey, what's going on?

  • Well, Trevor, and they want to come back in that Mike, I know you're trying to get a word in.

  • If only you'd been the Chief constable, Enduring would've got five.

  • Outstanding.

  • Not for cause you spot on.

  • What we need here is that if one of my police officers have been his route to you, is that they're not jolly unimpressed.

  • Policing is just dead straightforward.

  • Folks, we've got to be approachable.

  • We've got to be kind.

  • We've got to be ruthless when when it's appropriate.

  • But you've got to know who we are.

  • You don't know our names.

  • How can we possibly police with you?

  • When Robert Peel set up the police, he said, the police of the public and the public of the police.

  • We are not an army of occupation on dhe.

  • Sadly, if police officers feel beleaguered and I have seen, then sometimes you do get those dysfunctional relationship.

  • You could have never hood police officers hopefully and in a local neighborhood police station and you know their names on.

  • They are on patrol with PCs, souls.

  • Those police officers and peace yourselves have gotta have a spring in the step.

  • One of the things that inspector's always said when they came to during world.

  • Gosh, it feels different here, and you've got to engender that feeling that you can do something.

  • Let's not be fatalistic about it, but and this is the final point.

  • You asked me what we did feel.

  • We arrest people with absolutely arrest people, but we don't necessarily prosecute.

  • Now if somebody's been stabbed and clearly that goes to court, what I'm talking about the precursor offenses, the precursor behavior.

  • We all know now about adverse child experiences.

  • So we're now in Durham.

  • There's something called a mini police every junior school now as it so many police force, and we make sure that the most disadvantaged kids are part of that.

  • With a police uniform, they learn about social cohesion and isn't twee.

  • It's hard hitting, but it has a major impact.

  • Those Children have got those social values, their civic values for the rest of the lives.

  • Trevor, briefly.

  • Look, I'm gonna push back home a couple of things.

  • I don't want drugs in my city.

  • I would like to have more police officers, but we're talking about a specific thing.

  • Three young men will die before this program is broadcast again, and we know what they look like.

  • We know what parts said that they come from, and we also know that it isn't about something that's happening external it, you know, talk to these kids and they will tell you about beef.

  • They will tell you about that.

  • The absolute insane reasons these things happen, which on which are outside the ken off people on this panel and people in the audience.

  • We need to understand what they are doing and widening the reason I feel passionate about it.

  • If I had a son, he'd be well off.

  • But I bet you he's done a good chance of being involved in this kind of thing to wear to practical things I think we could do.

  • First of all, I would like to see somebody stop glorifying the culture and the music and all of that that does drill, guns, kill, kill, kill on, by the way, disrespects women and we here.

  • We make hero to the people who make this music.

  • I need to be blunt about that, and that's one of the reasons that young people are into it.

  • And the second thing I think we could do, Yeah, we could have more police, but that's gonna take time.

  • If you go across the road from here, there's a park place.

  • So Park Mom pushed me around it as a baby.

  • Nobody will walk across that part tonight because it's too dangerous.

  • One of the reasons that we we have public spaces now which used to be the province off janitors and park keepers and schools, would have teaching assistants that would walk with people over in Hackley.

  • It's one of the things that most born academy successful school did.

  • Maybe one of the things you could do is invest in bringing back some of those intermediate professions.

  • Not the big deal, but people who are just there because these things happen in places where nobody is watching.

  • So the more we can have the park keepers back, those janitors of people who are around, the more likely we are to protect our kids.

  • Do the simple thing.

  • First, I'm gonna move on a mix.

  • Is there a lot of questions?

  • But before I just want to come back to you.

  • Lena, what do you think?

  • About what You heard me say that I probably know about 30 people who've been mugged in Cliffside Park through this community network.

  • The M part off Andi, I think I've seen two policemen once patrolling way have We are communicating with the authorities through this network that I'm part often we net, we tell them we actively encourage people to report.

  • But we you know, you never see apart from ones any any, any place there on then.

  • The other thing I just wanted to say is, um, there's bean a sort of evidence that says the increase in exclusion from school is tied to the increase in street crime.

  • And so yet we are excluding Maura, Maura, Maura and asked.

  • School's becoming straight on straight from strict and, you know, it just seems like that is the question for the Tory government currently.

as the mother of a 14 year old boy who has been mugged locally three times last year, once at knifepoint.

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