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The 35 gang-related attacks since January have provoked a quiet rage among the Kurdish and Turkish communities of north London.
The loss felt by relatives is crushing, the fear felt by others consuming. The violence making the news reflects a wider culture of gang violence that has been overlooked too long.
In my advice surgery, I have sat with a man who had to flee his Tottenham home for fear of being killed after having borrowed money from a gang loan shark.
He now lives away from his wife and children, unable to see them through fear of bringing harm to them. To watch him wilt in front of me, knowing he has had to abandon his family, was heartbreaking.
In parts of these communities, the system of justice that governs the rest of our city has been replaced by one overseen by gang bosses, enforced by the gun and knife.
The rest of us must not dismiss this as a "Kurdish-Turkish" problem. We have been here before.
At one time gun crime was a seen as an issue unique to the black community - yet a quarter of a century after the first turf wars in Lambeth, it is now something that cuts across the lives of all Londoners.
The lesson is this: if we turn away now, abandoning communities to be torn apart by a lawless minority, we will all come to regret it.
The Turkish-Kurdish community is one of London's most enterprising and civic-minded.
Countless businesses are owned and staffed by Turkish speakers; the increasing number of local councillors from these communities is testament to a strong sense of public duty.
Our response should not alienate these people, yet that is what we are in danger of doing.
I am relieved that the Metropolitan Police has now withdrawn its routine armed patrols but the fact that such a policy could have been introduced without proper consultation is deeply worrying.
Yes, we need strong policing, but we also need stronger community policing - and a much deeper understanding between police and community.
The Met should be hiring more Turkish-speaking officers - how else can we expect people to have the confidence to come forward? Without building trust, "shock and awe" tactics will serve only to marginalise the vast majority of law-abiding citizens.
Let us also be clear about the dangers of falling back on "community politics". Too many times in the past, we have worked with self-appointed community leaders because it was convenient to do so.
Not only did many of these leaders lack legitimacy, they have sometimes been protagonists of the criminals.
Today, "community engagement" must mean just that, reaching out to the community and understanding the concerns people face in their everyday lives.
The open summit I attended earlier this month with the police at Hackney Town Hall was an important step but that can only be a start. We need to engage directly with Kurdish and Turkish people in north London - as well as challenging those communities to foster a greater culture of openness.
Above all, we need to give them the policing they deserve.
We cannot reap the benefits of a multicultural London and then renege on our responsibility to these communities when they are gripped by fear and violence.
David Lammy is the Labour MP for Tottenham and a higher education minister.
Reader views (12)
I'm sorry, what benefits of multiculturalism? Take alway multicultralism from London and all these problems go away, and we lose a few take aways from our streets so what? Labour have ruined London, maybe even more than the rest of the UK.
- Carson, London, 26/11/2009 11:55
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The police, frankly, should be colour and race blind, and Labour, of which this witless wonder is a part, has done more to destroy the police as an effective crime fighting force than any other government this century. Turks and Kurds who can think of nothing better than to spew hatred at each other should be deported from the UK.
- Dominic, london, 26/11/2009 10:42
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Firstly policemen are not "hired". Policing is a career which one volunteers for. If ethnic minorities do not volunteer their services, there is nothing the police can do about it. Secondly, if the majority in these ethnic communities are horrified by the criminal activities of their brothers, they should give information to the police that will lead to the arrest of the transgressors; they know who they are and what they do. And lastly, when people are convicted they should be automatically stripped of their P.R. or citizenship and sent back to where they or their parents came from; no exceptions.
- Tony Whitmarsh, Melbourne, Australia, 19/11/2009 12:30
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I moved out of north London beacause of all the trouble there, Bounds Green, Wood Green, Edmonton, Tottenham, etc
Vile vile places to live.
- P Staker, London, 17/11/2009 18:05
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Don't knock Multiculturalism!
- Dave B, Beckenham, 17/11/2009 17:43
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Just proves that 'multiculturalism' does not work.
- M Lawrence, kent, 17/11/2009 16:45
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So Lammy has let whatever problem he's whining about materialise on his watch and he now wants people to trust him to fix it?
Hmmm...no thanks David.
- St, London, 17/11/2009 16:25
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So lets talk straight and not waffle like a politian. The Turks and the Kurds hate each other and have done so for years. They are practically at war with each other along the borders of Turkey and Iraq and gangs from each side battle over the heroin trade in North London. And here we have New Labours "finest" banging on about "community engagement" and giving them the policing they deserve!!! You couldnt make it up! So the Met should hire more Turkish speakers? Heres an idea for you Mr Lammy, how bout as this was Britain the last time i looked, people learn English. That way they could begin to understand our culture and be able to speak to the Met. But you wouldnt agree as these people probably voted for you didnt they. What a joke!!!
- John, london, 17/11/2009 14:46
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Um, which government was it let them come here in the first place? It's a bit late complaining about the results now isn't it?
- Derek, London, 17/11/2009 14:38
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Why should anyone pay any attention to David Lammy? He might think himself a Mastermind but the truth is he's just another lame Labour stooge who has helped destroyed Britain.
- Kate, Harrow, London, UK, 17/11/2009 12:27
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Is this a joke? The vast majority of the population of London do not shoot each other, do not require additional spending by the police to hire "interpreters" and are generally quite happy to talk to the police about crime when it occurs in front of them. I'm sure many of the taxpayers in this city are fed up hearing about excuses for these communities who have turned themselves into ghettoes by accepting lawbreaking in their midst and then complaining when they start to kill each other. remeber when the police were allowed to stop and search people? The "communities" complained that they were unfairly targeted. No they weren't they were the most likely to be criminal and armed. So Lammy, you got what you wanted blind police, and a blind community. Too late to cry wolf now. If they want help, learn English and integrate with those who pay taxes (ie pay for the police), report crimes and participate in the normal economy.
- Jon, london, 17/11/2009 12:22
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The scale of these gun battles on London's streets are unprecedented. As is the growing gun and knife crime among youth and CHILDREN in sections of London's black community. If they are not to become accepted as 'the norm' in these communities, and by the social and the law enforcement agencies, these serious trends and crimes must be urgently tackled NOW.
- Andrew, West London, 17/11/2009 10:25
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