Shootings and knife related murders accounted for 27 deaths across London in 2007. This is an alarming increase of 50% on the year before and a grim reality of the state of London. Scores of young people have lost their lives needlessly on the streets of London. All this has been contributed to by easy access to knives and lethal weapons and then used to settle scores by young people. Four young people, Mehmet Ozer, Etem Celebi, Eren Anil and David Nowak from the Turkish community lost their lives in 2007 to such incidents, some were bystanders and some happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Whereas in the past young people would have had a knuckle fight to get even, today’s young people are only too ready to brandish a knife or even use shotguns.
Etem Celebi was one of the four young Turkish people at the age of 17 to lose their lives in London in 2007. Celebi was shot at close range as he sat with his friends outside his home in Hackney. The motive for his murder, it has become clearer, was to revenge an earlier stabbing of a young person by two youths from the neighboring estate. Celebi was shot in the back because he was from the Smalley Close Estate and for no other apparent reason. Celebi had a whole bright future ahead of him. According to his friends, all that mattered to him was getting good grades at school and doing well as a semi-professional footballer with Leyton Football Club. He had been employed at his local swimming club as a lifeguard. Celebi was not part of any gang, on the contrary, was a rising star within the British society and within the Turkish community. He so tragically had his life cut short in the ever increasing violent streets of London.
It would be dishonest to restrict violence and in particular gun crime to the streets of London alone. Similar tragic scenes have been repeated in the large cities across England in places such as Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield and the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool. The latter capturing National media headlines and the attention of the Prime Minister.
Gangs may form due to social exclusion and discrimination. Young people join forces for a sense of safety, recognition, love, identity, money, and belonging; for reasons of status and peer pressure. Factors such as fear, hatred, bigotry, poverty, disenfranchisement, and more commonly breakdown of social values are also motivations for joining a street gang. The gangs often share an identity based either on location, race, age, peer networks or kinship ties and invariably hierarchical communities with shared purposes. More importantly, there seems to be a prevalence of the 3 R’s. That is to say REPUTATION, RESPECT and REVENGE / RETALIATION.
Reputation is a key concern for all the collective members of the gang and any deviation from this result in a member being ‘beaten down’ by fellow members until the leader of the gang calls an end. This is seen as a form of bonding and creating a sense of belonging. Respect must be evident for the entire gang ‘family’ and any failure by any member of the gang to ‘dis’ respect a rival gang member can be seen as a punishable ‘violation’ and the member can be beaten down. Revenge and or retaliation are the result if no challenge goes unanswered. Acts such as ‘drive by shootings’ or other forms of violence are acts that follow ‘dis’ by one gang against another. Normally calculated to restore reputation in planned acts of violence and also often related to drug deals or infringement of drug territory. Even a small act like a ‘dirty look’ might lead to a violent act.
It is important to understand that the definition of gangs has evolved over the years from that of ‘individuals who through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage share a common identity. In early usage of the word ‘gang’, it referred to a group of workmen and later underwent pejoration. Today the consensus across the USA and Europe seems to be ‘any durable, street orientated youth group whose own identity includes involvement in illegal activity’.
Gang culture can be viewed through the prism of gang identity forged through the mainstream glamorization of violence; some young people subscribing to the 50 Cent’s mantra of ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Mainstream and popular music along with Hollywood movies tend to glamorize the gang lifestyle. Majority of the young people who gravitate to gangs do so out of a need to belong to something and for the power or status that is associated with being part of a gang. The rebellious phase of growing up in today ’s society makes alternative lifestyles very attractive. The need for ‘celebrity’ and growth of 15 minutes of fame through television programmes is an added appeal. Seeking constant attention and the desire to obtain material goods are driving factors in motivating young people towards these types of organized groups.
Knives and guns are now like fashion accessories and young people as young as 10 years have been caught carrying them. Some parents are so concerned that they have splashed out around £120 for stab-proof vests for their children for the fear of their children being stabbed at school or on the street.
Every week in London 50 teenagers are victims of knife crime, according to the Metropolitan Police. Knife killings outnumber gun-related murders by three to one. The agencies have developed deterrents and the Government has doubled the offense of carrying a knife from 2 years to 4 years in the last 12 months. More measures are being developed, Gordon Brown has promised to introduce airport-style detectors in 100 schools across England in the coming months. For some young people in the gangs, a prison sentence is seen as a prestige status symbol and a badge of honor.
The Authorities have been actively trying to contain and manage the second biggest threat after terrorism affecting the Country. Operation Trident, a Unit established by the Met Police to monitor ‘black on black’ crime was one of the early responses.’ ‘Mothers against Guns’, an organization formed by the mother of Damian Cope who was gunned down 5 years ago simply for ‘disrespecting’ a notorious gangster.
The responses to date have been knee-jerk from the Authorities and in some quarters the response is either inadequate or non-excitant. So what needs to happen for some sense of normality to return to the streets of London and other cities?
Postcodes were designed to provide and facilitate better communication and the delivery of letters. Postcodes today have become to dominate headlines for each murder that is committed in London or elsewhere. Murders labeled as ‘turf wars’ based on postcodes.
Already this year, the beginning of 2008 witnessed Henry Bolombi an 18-year-old murdered at dawn in Edmonton, Enfield. Stabbed to death by a rival gang from Tottenham after an argument between two sets of youngsters returning from New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The Authorities are so exercised with a sense of ‘lack of control’ that they are considering as part of their arsenal to intervene by getting to talk to the leadership of some 170 active gangs across London. They are clearly looking to make public a US-style ‘zero tolerance’ no-nonsense approach to dealing with them.
Only time will tell if this strategy yields the results so desperately needed to stem the rising tide of violence gripping the cities and destroying young lives. The communities cannot afford to be complacent and do not wish to see repeats of tragedies such as Etem Celebi or Rhys Jones.
London’s Local Education Authorities and Director of Children Services in Councils must adapt and develop effective lines of communications with law enforcement officials. They have the necessary infrastructure and resources in order to track and prevent gang growth and violence in the communities. Schools are at the center of this growth in violence and it needs to be stemmed urgently.
Parents must take an even more active interest in the education of their children and keep their eyes open to what their children are involved in outside of school.
The community must engage young people in their affairs and activities and find ways to bridge the generational divide. Provide the necessary space and resources for the young people to develop their talents in a safe environment.
Police must take genuine steps to understand and deal with the factors that are behind and contributing to the escalation of gun and knife crime in gangs. There must be a multiagency response with the Police in the lead to stem the tide of violence and Local Government playing an increasing role to better protect all the citizens.
Any strategy adopted by the Authorities must engage the socially excluded young people from all diverse backgrounds as they are part of the solution.
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Semra Eren-Nijhar 