London riots!

Londoners in Tottenham, Enfield, Brixton and Walthamstow will today be counting the cost of the weekend’s civil disturbances financially, socially and emotionally.

Businesses were burned, shops looted, and the police attacked. When these acts occur the whole community suffers. All these acts should be rightly condemned. There is no justification for such wanton criminality.

It is sad however, that although looters and rioters were made up of many communities, it is the Black community which will largely blamed in regards to criminality.

Whilst condemning those criminal acts we should not lose sight of the initial cause: A peaceful protest in regards to very suspicious death of father of four Mark Duggan ended in frustration and anger which then became hijacked by those who saw an opportunity for destruction and theft.

I was in Tottenham on Saturday evening to watch Spurs play my favorite Spanish team Atheltico Bilbao. On the streets all the talk was about Thursday’s shooting. Some described it as an execution; others said the police have no respect anyone who is Black.

The very conflicting stories between the police and eye witnesses only added to the tension. The climate was palpable. After the game I took my son straight home unaware what was about to unfold.

The reality is however, the chronic breakdown in police community relations over the past few months paved the way for a condition like this to occur. The suspicious deaths in police custody of Smiley Culture, Kingsley Burrell and more recently Demtre Fraser have all added to grave distrust of the police.

If we are to solve these problems we need to honestly, and dispassionately understand the conditions in which give rise for these occurrences. Right now we at OBV are asking parents and carers to take responsibility for their children: to know where they are and to warn them to avoid hot spots.

Furthermore, the police and the IPCC must be much more transparent and honest in their assessments during these police operations that leave individuals dead with so many conflicting accounts. In the medium and long we must offer individuals real opportunities in education and employment, without which too many will be fodder for gangs and criminal activity. Simon Woolley