Why heavy-handed policing?

Published: August 4, 2011

I WAS surprised discover that while the last police consultative committee was discussing the need for a softly-softly approach to policing, the Borough Commander had actually planned a large raid.

While some residents will be delighted to see the police acting in force, it was precisely this heavy-handed policing that led to the Brixton riot after which the police hauled back on stop-and-search and the crime rate went through the roof.

Was it really necessary to have 200 police from the riot squad “kettling in” Queen’s Crescent with a police helicopter hovering overhead?

Couldn’t a few local officers have achieved the same thing?

History has also shown that while these operations are great fun for the police they rarely have lasting results.

In Camden Town there was rarely an officer in sight and drug dealers abounded.

Every now and again there would be a high-profile raid to clean up the area but a few weeks later it would be back to square one.

Camden Town has only been cleaned up with a steady police presence. The key questions are why Gospel Oak was allowed to degenerate into this mess. The previous Conservative councillors worked hard to put in measures to reduce crime; however, the situation seems to have deteriorated after they lost their seats to Labour in May 2010.

Unless the core problems of the area are addressed, it is unlikely that this raid will have any lasting impact.
Cllr Jonny Bucknell
Conservative, Belsize ward