London Life

Your Views

I am a 25 year old female living just outside London and working in Lambeth. I am greatly concerned by the current gun and knife culture in the capital. However, I am deeply saddened that this survey seems to show that not many people have confidence in the police.

I work as a civilian for the Metropolitan Police Service and I take calls from the public. These consist of non-emergency as well as 999 calls.

I believe that the police are doing the very best they can to tackle these issues with the resources and the information available to them. Your survey reports that only 57% of gun/knife crimes are reported to the police. How can the Met then be expected to solve these crimes if people aren't reporting them?!

I strongly believe the British public need to be further educated about the use of the 999 system. 999 is a life/death emergency line yet thousands of "emergency" calls every day consist of noise nuisance problems, hoax calls......possibly from some of the people who say they have no faith in the police, and thefts of wallets/phones from the night before. These are not emergencies and the people who ring through with these problems are holding up the 999 line for people who really are in immediate danger.

I would like the people of London to think about the dangerous situations that police put themselves in every single day and to appreciate the job that they do. Without them this world would be a much scarier place to live in.

Katie

Last year I was brutally attacked by drunk lads and police didn't punish those lads saying they don't have proper evidence. I have no faith in this police because they are helpless. We get a feeling that criminals are more powerful than law. The punishment these young lad gets on attacking someone is few months in jail. If my dog attacks people the same law put him down. Criminals know that the highest punishment they could get is few years in jail, which is better than their current living situation. So they don't care killing people. Introduce capital punishment and see the difference. You won't believe it.

I have no hope in this country's law. It can't protect innocent hard working decent citizen.

Dinesh

I'm watching the London news on the BBC at 2.40, and the report on gun and knife crime and how teenagers feel on the streets caught my attention. My name is Emma I'm 16 years old and I live in Prestwood in Buckinghamshire. Only last night my boyfriend was attack and had his phone stolen. Luckily the people that attacked him were not carrying a knife or a gun as I dread to think what may have happened if they had. I've always felt fairly safe where I live but now I'm terrified of being anywhere on my own in the evenings.

Every week we drop my boyfriend off at the station in great Missenden on Sunday so he can get a train home. Yesterday I got a call from him saying he had missed the train so I said I would ask mum if we could go and get him then call him back. When I called back to tell him we were on the way I was absolutely horrified to hear the phone answered and people shouting "give me the ****ing money bruv" I screamed for my mum and we raced back down to the station. My boyfriend had been hit many times over the head and just collasped into the car when we got there. We spent the whole evening talking to the police and giving statements.

We cannot fault the police in any way. The guy on the end of the phone in Oxford when my mum called 999 was absolutely brilliant, and within a few minutes we saw a police car go past in the direction the boys ran. The police cars turned up and took care of everything and luckily we spotted the attackers on a replacement coach as the trains weren't running. They were 16 and 17 years old.

I feel scared and unsafe where I live now, I don't feel the police can stop the crime, but I do think they did an amazing job when they got there. I want to know what the police are going to do to PREVENT the crime in the first place. I never thought it would happen to me, I've never been involved in anything or anyone dangerous, now I just don't feel safe.

Emma

The poll is a good reflection of the fears that is being experienced by our young people and while there are a large number who arm themselves to perpetrate crime, there are also those who are arming themselves for protection. I am incensed that Claudia Webbe should come on the telly and say That Trident is doing a good job, I have a young man in a detention centre being threatened with deportation because Trident have tried to blackmail him into giving evidence about a crime he has nothing to do with. I also know a young man that lives near to where Stephen Lawrence was murdered who has been robbed three times in as many months, the last time by an individual known to the police and despite many attempts to get the police to do their job the assailant is still at large with the victim now totally petrified and considering arming himself.

Wayne Rowe, Co-ordinator of Straight Aims Anti-Gun Charity

I just wanted to let you no how I feel about knives, My husband is a bus driver and last week while he was working a late night. One of the drivers had a young lad on his bus he had no pass and could not show him ID to say he was under 16 so the driver told him to get off he was then told by the young lad that he was going to stab him at some point that evening and then showed the driver that he had a knife tucked in his jeans. These drivers are just doing their jobs so I don't understand why they should worry about not coming home.

Anonymous

I know you're talking about London police but you should check out Essex police's track record..
I've been reporting the same crack dealer for the last 5 years but business is still booming for him...

Anonymous

I cannot understand the idea of the local Police Station refusing to respond to a call put out by an elderly neighbour of my father's about rowdy kids behind one of the blocks of flats, who really make the lady in question feel VERY afraid for her security. It seems that these kids are smoking something, possibly joints? And this is frightening to an elderly lady like my father's neighbour.

I suspect that if the police were to intervene, they'd be accused of being "killjoys". However, is it not more important that a LONE ELDERLY LADY should be able to sleep easy?

Simon Spratt

For some people it's not just a lack of faith/trust in the police, but more the government. The amount of red tape the police need to cross to help people is immense. Also the justice system, how many times have innocent people been punished for protecting themselves, or hurting those who deserve it?

The government needs to look at people involved in excessive unprovoked violence as subhuman and treat them as such. Bring back the death penalty!

Steve McClarky

We live in Borehamwood, Herts which is on the border of Middx and Barnet. My son was bullied mercilessly at Junior school level for being clever. From the age of twelve to eighteen was mugged and attacked no less than seven times. Three occasions were when he was out with his friends and they were set about by another group of boys, the rest were individual attacks on him when out and about in Edgware, Barnet, Camden and Borehamwood. The worst of all the attacks was a mugging on a bus at 6pm in the evening on a summers night by knifepoint for his mobile. When he reached eighteen he left England and now lives safely abroad. I have a daughter too but no such worries with her I suppose because she is pretty. It seems that boys have more problems generally and I am glad that neither of my children now live in London and even when they visit now drive so I consider them to be safer.

Sally

The top people in Britain do not care enough. Every time there is another death, there's a lot of talking, but the money doesn't come through. Kids Company in Camberwell struggles for funds, Boyhood to Manhood in Peckham struggles for funds, youth groups in Lambeth - all struggling for funds!

The government must put more money into youth activities. You don't make good citizens by shutting them out, you make good citizens by inviting everyone in.

More equality, not more penalty is what we need. Otherwise the so-called underclass will turn into an army. Then we will all be in trouble.

Paul Bakalite (Brixton)

Don't believe it's safer outside London. I was stabbed at my grammar school in Buckinghamshire in 1974 so it's nothing new - it just has a higher profile now.

David Lawes

I am a 41 year old widow and mother to a 5 year old girl and a sixteen year old boy living in the borough of Brent. I never had any problems with my son untill he turned sixteen last May. He had lost his father suddenly when he was 9, then my husband to whom he was very close to, died from cancer 3 years ago,then last year his good friend, Kian Prince, was stabbed and died outside of his school. These losses had had a profound effect on my son and I started to see a change in him and his behaviour, especially toward me, he started to 'hang ' around with gangs.... I tried everything in my power to get some help and support for him but was fighting a loosing battle , constantly being told that if my son does not want to abide by my rules, there is nothing I can do! This is because the 'system' encourages our children to turn against their parents and takes away our authority over our children. During the past three months, my son has had to leave the family home because his behaviour became so threatening, although I was desparately trying to get the support to keep him at home .

Various services have become involved, however, their involvement has resulted in my son being given a place to live at the age of sixteen, with no rules, supervision or boundaries in place, money in his pocket and nothing to do all day and all this has done is enable my son to get even more deeply involved in the street gangs, the very thing that I was trying to prevent! The total lack of communication between the support services is an absolute disgrace and this attitude from the people in authority is encouraging our children to break away from the family home....The government talks all of the time about the concerns of our teenagers and all of the services available to help encourage the kids away from gangs, however, in my experience, these services are not implementing the programmes available, properly and when confronted about it, it all comes down to the same 'excuse' ...'workoverload ' and 'communication' problems.....This is not good enough when these so called services are responsible for the welfare of already vunerable teenagers and yet they give the teenagers the 'freedom' putting them into a more vulnerable situation, where they can be 'embraced ' by the street gangs, looking and preying on easy targets.

Amanda Downes

The majority of teenaged knife and gun deaths this year were black-on-black crimes. Single parent families in the black community in London now comprise over 50%. It's time the community examined the devastating effects on young people of a lack of a stable male figure in the majority of black homes.

Amanda Bush

What can be done about Gun & knife crime ? Nothing because this Government is running scare of teenagers.
Teenagers who carry guns & knifes are cowards themselves.

Mark Baird
Woolwich

That smug Police Commander said it's not a quick fix but if his officers were on the streets as a matter of course and responded when called the problem would be minimised.

You can go for miles and miles in this country without seeing a police officer on foot or patrolling properly in a vehicle.

Iain from Surrey

Yes I believe that knife and gun crime has gone totally out of control on the UK and the Police has lost control, I am a metropolitan police cadet and know it is not because of the front line police officers, its because so many restrictions put on police officers powers.

I knew three of the young teenagers murder by knife crime, Adam Regis, Stephen Boachy and Paul Erahon, all from my school and 2 of which were very good friends.

Nick, Beckton

I don't think that this is a young people's problem. It is a society problem we need to stop glamourising gun & kinfe crime amongst the youth and talking about it being exclusive to them. The realityis that the vast majority of the perpatrators are over 18 which is not classed either by the criminal justice system or the laws of the land as youth. We need to stop saying that Youth clubs is the answer yes there is a need for further funding of clubs but what we need is to determine why those Yp who commit the crimes are not engaging in youth services.

We need to invest in personal development of our young people and then maybe we will have some hope. Parents/carers of those yp need to stand up and be counted and accept that they have gone wrong and accept correction to help their children our future.

Jamal

Let's not beat about the bush here, & you may call me a racist - fine, go ahead. Why is it that nearly all the perpetrators/victims are BLACK? Why are areas where blacks outnumber whites so much more dangerous & crime/violence ridden than vice-versa? Could it be that black people are more genetically programmed towards violence than whites?.......... If so then it's a damning indictment of immigration!

Charlotte, Croydon

The problem lies with parenting. There are so many places for teenages to go and spend time constructively. Don't blame lack of facilities - sorry. Parents really should take the blame. I would never let my teenage son roam the streets so late in the night.

Horden

I am a male primary teacher in Lewisham. Young boys are desperate to know 'how' to behave. They don't have dads or their dads work all hours. They mess around but for certain adult males they don't mess around- they just want to impress and be respected by the male. I usually start conversations with these boys after an incident- 'Do you think that's how a man behaves?'- and they don't do it again. They want male role models- dads ideally or the nearest thing if that isn't available.

Anon

I think violence in the media has a direct impact on young and not too bright males, and this hasn't been mentioned in your report. Some violent video "games" available for these kids to play have a disturbing level of misanthropy, misogyny and consequence free violence embedded in them. Prolonged exposure to it desensitizes and devalues human life

Brendan Moran

We are always told that there is nothing for young people to do. There are hundreds of voluntary youth groups through out the capitol, many struggle because of lack of members and financial support.

Martin Legg
Boys Brigade Officer

I was a victim of violent crime for robbery of my mobile on 30th September 2007 when I was attacked by a gang of youth and stroke violently by a hamer in the chest....... I did not even receive decent support from police!!!!

In my opinion the authorities 'must' toughen the law for those youths out there who break the law, otherwise they will continue as they receive no punishment.

Parviz Ghamari

I work in a retail store in Brentwood, Essex. We have severe problems with youths hanging around and being abusive to customers and staff. They are in every day stealing goods. I totally agree with the lady on your programme that these youths need to be punished and more youth groups need to be set up. The youths attitude is........ "Phone the cops, I don't care nothing will happen anyway!!!!" or "whatever I will just tell them I was on coke then they wont do anything!!!!"

It's a joke that older people are feeling reluctant to go to work because of youths ages 11-18!!!!!

Alison