New police violent crime task force launched as murder rate soars in London

World
Europe

At least 55 people have been killed so far this year after a spate of knife and gun attacks in the British capital.

The number of murder investigations in February and March was higher in London than in New York City, a metropolis of around the same size.

The majority of victims in London this year were stabbed with knives, but gun violence has been on the rise too. Many of them were young men and most were from black communities.

On Thursday on Link Street in Hackney, east London, police were still combing the scene of one of the most recent stabbings – 18-year-old Israel Ogunsola died after officers who found him were unable to save him.

Former gang member Bobby Katanga spent several years in prison as a young man. Since being released, he has turned his life around and founded the semi-professional Hackney Wick Football Club, which helps train at-risk young people in the area and encourages them to live positive lives. The recent killings have hit close to home for Bobby.

File photo: Bobby Kasanga (L) and murder victim Reece Tshoma. /CGTN Photo

"This year’s just gone crazy," he told CGTN. "For them to say London surpassed New York, you can’t quite comprehend that. I feel hurt by it, because two of the victims who have died lately are close family friends who were younger than me but people I have seen growing up."

"Reece Tshoma, who died just last week Thursday, I hadn’t seen him since he was 12 years old and then I saw him last week at a birthday party, and we actually took a photo and three days later, after that photo, he’s dead. So it’s soul-destroying. It’s soul-destroying and we’re just thinking why isn’t anyone talking about this, why isn’t the government saying enough is enough?"

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick announced the creation of a new Violent Crime Task Force Police which use more intelligence tools and increased "stop-and-search" tactics. Dick said 120 specialist officers will target the most violent individuals in crime hotspots in a bid to keep them off the streets.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "angered and heartbroken" by the killings and blamed the violence on central government cuts to local youth services and police budgets.

Floral tributes are pictured in Hackney, east London, April 5, 2018. /CGTN Photo

Police and campaigners, including Bobby Kasanga, say increased use of social media and the escalating illegal drug trades are also behind the worsening violence.