Youth crime shooting: Girl, 5 critical

A 5 year old lies critically injured on life support after being shot in a gang shoot out in Brixton, and the community are calling on Mayor Boris Johnson and Lambeth Council to take action says Lee Jasper.

Lambeth is currently in the grip of a vicious gang war between three rival gangs. Every week there are casualties and the local police have imposed utilised borough wide section 60 stop and search powers in response to a huge escalation of youth violence resulting daily tit for tat attacks that are becoming increasingly brazen taking place in public and often in broad daylight.

This huge escalation is likely to cost innocent lives and last night a 5 year old child was caught up in the cross fire and lies critically ill in hospital fighting for her life. In addition a man also caught in this cross fire between rival gangs has bullet shrapnel lodged in his brain.

As the Lambeth community reels with the continuing violence locals are asking what the Council and the Mayors office are doing to respond to the massive increase in gang activity in the borough.

There is no funded police community partnership to tackle and confront gun and knife crime;  and there is no sign of the much-hyped Mayoral initiatives designed to tackle these issues despite the heartfelt pre-election promises of the Mayor to make this his number one issue.

Where are the boxing clubs? Where are the youth workers? Where are the mentors? What we have seen is an increase in stop and search rates at the cost of alienating large sections of the black community but without any lasting effect on black youth crime.

We have seen a decimation of youth services and voluntary sector projects aimed at diverting youths who are at risk of joining a gang. Community centers are closing down and youth workers are being sacked.

Both Lambeth council and the City Hall must be held responsible for neglect and the murderous consequences afflicting our youth.

This latest tragedy is only one of the attacks that have taken place over the least month. Attempting to tackle this issue through enforcement alone will not work. That’s been the main strategic approach of the last three years and we are seeing a rise in youth violence, violence generally and there would have been more deaths except for the proliferation of bullet and knife vests and the skills of our surgeons.

The police can only do so much and they are frankly at breaking point and will do even less with fewer officers. Lambeth cuts means that out of around 400 prolific offenders cuts to the Youth Offending Teams means that maybe less than 150 will now be managed and supervised on a day to day basis.

To suppress and reduce gang violence all evidence points to an effective community partnership such as those we have seen in the US. The community has to be fully involved in a partnership approach that works on prevention as well as enforcement.

In the current climate black communities are being abandoned in their fight against gun and knife crime. All the promises of community partnerships have come to naught and as police officers numbers reduce and community funding dries up the gangs become ever more reckless and the lives of the public are put at risk.

The Mayor and Lambeth Council must act now and take responsibility or many more lives will be put at risk.

Lee Jasper