Gun crime in London 'A real and present danger' says Chair of Metropolitan Police Authority

06/02
17 January 2002

Violent gun crime fuelled by the illegal trade in crack cocaine is a serious problem that is affecting every London borough, Toby Harris, Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority told community and council leaders today.

“The message is loud and clear. Gun crime is a very real problem for all London boroughs. 

“Unless we wake up to the fact and take positive, coordinated action we are in danger of seriously weakening the Met’s efforts to remove the threat from our streets and from our neighbourhoods.

“Let us make no mistake. Drug dealing criminals driven by greed for the money to be made from crack cocaine are using extreme force to control their activities or settle disputes with rivals.

"The firing of guns has become a first rather than last resort. Offenders disregard their own safety and the safety of others, firing weapons in public, often in crowded streets."

In one incident a small boy in a sweet shop in was hit in the leg by a ricochet from a bullet fired from an automatic weapon in a shootout between rival drug dealers outside.

In another incident outside a nightclub, people queuing to go in were sprayed with automatic gunfire by two gunmen after a drug deal went wrong. Eight people were injured.

Speaking at the Operation Trident seminar at New Scotland Yard, held to discuss the growing menace of shootings between rival drug gangs across the capital, Toby Harris paid tribute to the Trident team for their “tremendous effort and commitment” shown in their attempt to stop the shootings. 

Last year Trident investigated a total of 146 shootings, including 21 murders. Since Christmas, shootings have been running at two a day, with a number of people killed and injured. Between January and December 2001, Trident officers carried out 268 operations, arrested 441 people, recovered 620 kilos of class A drugs, mostly cocaine and heroin, and recovered 78 firearms.

“The Met is not the only police service to have a Trident-type unit set up especially to combat violent gun crime directly related to drug dealing – and especially crack cocaine. The problem now spreads right across the country from London and the south to Scotland.”

He called upon each borough Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership in London to address the issue in their crime and disorder strategies, and for more imaginative ways to be found to divert youngsters away from crime. Reducing truancy was an important step.

“We must prevent our young people from being sucked into this type of destructive and short-lived life style.” 

There was no glamour or long-term future in drugs and drug-related murder, he said.

“It is time we made our streets safe for law abiding citizens to be able to go about their daily lives without fear of being shot or terrified by being caught in the cross-fire.”

He added:

“Drug related gun crime on our streets and in our neighbourhoods is a very real and present danger.”

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