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Marchers against knife crime rallying in Hyde Park this past weekend jeered a video message from the Prime Minister in which he said stronger penalties sent “a clear message to every young person carrying a knife that there will be no excuses and no exceptions”.
But Metropolitan Police Commander Mark Simmons backed up Brown's tough stance, telling the crowd: “We have arrested over 3,000 people ... we will be absolutely relentless in our pursuit of people who use knives.”
My hunch is that the marchers know that this punitive message is also a divisive one. So what do you do when you see the violent or antisocial behaviour on London's streets? Do you wade in and punish — or do you try to effect a genuine resolution of conflict? I believe that it's up to all of us to step up when we see people getting out of hand, but until recently my interventions have been conspicuously unsuccessful.
On one occasion, I accosted two (black) lads jemmying a parking machine, only to have them pursue me shouting abuse. My instructions to (black and white) teenagers to pick up the litter they've discarded have almost always ended in angry confrontations. When I've tried to break up interracial fights, the combatants have turned on me.
Then a close friend who's also an inveterate interventionist pointed out to me that I tend to be angry myself when trying to stop the social rot, and so the next time I saw a (white) man about to beat up a (black) traffic warden, a couple of weeks ago, I approached them with almost Zen-like calm. I discovered that if I was firm, refused to act as arbiter, but merely told them the facts — nothing would be solved by violence — that I actually succeeded in preventing a stupid wrangle ending up as a serious assault. I was so excited by this that I then told a gang of (black) Kennington youths to pick up their litter — and they did!
This experience did teach me a key lesson about law and order: it must be enforced by individuals who are perceived as non-partial and unthreatening. I've indicated the ethnicity of all involved in these conflicts, because the fact is that in areas with high ethnic minority populations — such as those most affected by knife crime — the Met is still not policing with general consent. Despite all the work done since the Macpherson Report, black and brown Londoners continue to perceive the police as racist, while there still aren't proportionate numbers of black and brown police officers.
You would think that Commander Simmons would understand this only too well, given the current brouhaha about racism in the Met's highest echelons, but then it isn't him who's charged with actual conflict resolution on the ground. If the scourge of knife crime is to be tackled, it needs a citizenry and a police force who can intervene effectively when they see low-level antisocial behaviour on London's streets.
Reader views (7)
Come to Croydon and try to "tell them off". There is a stabbing nearly every day in an area known to the Police to be a trouble spot but it continues. It is becoming a "No Go" area for certain members of the community and soon will be governed by the Gangs.
- Jackie, surrey, Coulsdon nr, Croydon ~(unfortunately)
Typical middle class Wally. 'Oh look at me everybody, aren't I amazing. I talk to black and white people in exactly the same way.'Do you get three cheers for this speech at your dinner parties, Will?
- Ted, London
The last thing I need some pompous smug git telling us all how to sort out the country's crime poblem out. Will Self might like to try that approach in Hackney at 1am and see how far his approach gets him. Then again the last time he ever trundled through an area like that was probably when he was a smackhead...great role model and in a perfect position to point out how to resolve the unorthodox behaviour of others. NOT.
- Danny, London, UK
Not all Police are racist. May I suggest we take the same approach when talking about the Police and not stereotype them? My younger sister, a Police Constable in Tower Hamlets, is not racist, works extremely, hard and recieves low pay. Being told all the time that she is racist and is ineffective does not help her when she is on the street risking her health, safety and life. She is one of us who actually does make a difference each day and we should applaud all thos hard working street bobbies out there and give them our support.
- Mikki, Hackney, London
Good call, Will. Policing by consent. Government by consent. These fundamentals have been all but forgotten, it seems. Police and politicians playing the tough-guy pours kerosene on the flames of street violence. The same goes for "adults" who try to sort out local youths. The same goes for Local Councils getting in on the tough-guy act by fining everything that moves. The projection of quiet authority is a lost art, it seems.
- Bloke, London
Spot on, Will! Can I also suggest this further reading (and to police chiefs, politicians and educators):
Searching for Peace: The Road to Transcend (Peace by peaceful means) by Johan Galtung, Carl G. Jacobsen, and Kai Frithjof Brand-Jacobsen. People, no matter how "urbanised" or otherwise apparently inured to violence and conflict, are not lost causes, but we're always attempting to fight fire with fire.
- Karli, Tottenham London
" it needs a citizenry and a police force who can intervene effectively when they see low-level antisocial behaviour on London's streets". But Will, the citizenry will only intervene if they are confident that any police officer attending will use his or her common sense and back up the citizen. This is not currently the case as too many police officers seem bereft of their judgemental faculties or afraid of the consequences of siding with the innocent citizen in the frace of the bureucratic process that inevitably follows even trivial incidents. Lack of effective leadership in the senior ranks of the police (as recently pointed out by HM Inspector of Constabulary's staff) seems to be blame
- Peter Haldane, London
