Editorial

If the coalition Government believe that scrapping "Operation Trident" the specialised unit in the Met Police that investigates violent crime in London's black community; will save money but maintain a grip on the "powder-keg" that still exists inside the black community, then there needs to be some serious rethinking.

The levels of violent crime that involve young black men who are gang members, is not going away, and by trying to down-grade Trident, you will give the sign that the new Government is not interested or has lost the ability to tackle this very dangerous group of criminals.  Let’s not forget black gangs attack predominately other members of the black community, and it was the black community who called on the government in 1998 with the murder of Avril Johnson from south London and Michelle Carby in east London to have armed response units focusing on "black-on-black" crimes.

London needs to have a strong police presence, in some cases it needs to have armed response units, capable to deal with dangerous criminal gangs in a effective and sometimes lethal response, in order to show that the streets are still controlled by law enforcement bodies, and not the criminals.  Harlesden, Stonebridge, Holloway, Brixton and Tottenham some of the areas that are "hubs" for black criminals, will descend into "no-go areas" as was the case in previous years, if police numbers are cut.  

The black community has some very serious criminal elements, and the police must be equipped to deal with these criminals to prevent another proliferation of black criminals in the capital.  The same can also be said for the rising influence of Turkish criminal’s gangs, who are believed to control the capitals heroin and a large percentage of the cocaine dealing business in London.  Other groups who turn to guns are Albanians and Polish criminals, all are accustomed to using guns to retaliate against rivals.

We need a strong, police force, consisting of well trained, experienced officers who on intelligence lead investigations can target, and if required eliminate dangerous criminals from the streets of London.  We are less than two years away from the 2012 Olympics. It would be a massive public relations disaster for a tourist to be killed or attacked in east London, during the Games, by black gangs or other criminals.  What kind of image would that give to London globally?  We should be "over-policing" the streets, not cutting back officers.