The increase is being driven by a Turkish gang war, which has resulted in three firearms murders since March as two groups, the Tottenham Boys and the Bombacilar, fight for suprem-acy. In South London there has been a rise in teenage gang shootings.
TIMESONLINE… The prospect of an armed police service moved a step closer yesterday when Scotland Yard announced the formation of a new firearms unit that will routinely patrol gun crime hotspots in London.
The team is drawn from the CO19, the Metropolitan Police specialist firearms unit, members of which shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station after mistaking him for a suicide bomber in 2005.
The armed patrols are being deployed after a dramatic rise in gun crime. They will target key areas in North London, where Turkish gangs are engaged in a bloody turf war, and south of the Thames, where gangland shooting incidents have soared.
The C019 Proactive Unit will walk estates while some officers will use motorbikes to provide the capability for high-speed pursuit.
But the announcement has created a political row, with demands for Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, to convene an emergency meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA).
It is understood that Mr Johnson, who is also the MPA chairman, was not consulted by senior police commanders. The Times understands that Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, was also not fully briefed on the move, which was taken at assistant commissioner level.
Neither Sir Paul nor Tim Godwin, the deputy commissioner, were at Scotland Yard to respond to the news, which was revealed in Police Review magazine.
Joanne McCartney, Labour’s policing spokeswoman on the London Assembly, said: “We want fewer guns on the streets, not more, and people to feel safe in their community — not scared of those who are supposed to protect them. There has been no debate, no consultation and apparently no consideration to the strong opposition that exists to arming the police.” Joanne McCarty thinks the police tactic of yelling “STOP. Or I shall yell stop again” should continue.
Yasmin Khan, of the Justice4Jean campaign, said: “This is very disconcerting and worrying and it makes me feel more threatened because we know what the consequences can be of having armed police on the streets.” Continue Reading →



