Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of ...

Ev w74 Home Affairs Committee: Evidence
of our parents were unable to provide that leadership for us as they themselves were experiencing racism for
the first time too. As our parents were unable to fulfil the leadership role, we began to come together to provide
support and protection to each other. Somewhere along the line it seems that we made a decision that was
going to impact on us for decades and generations to come. We took to the streets!
36. The facts are that as far as we were concerned the racists controlled the institutions; and our parents
controlled our homes, with a rod of iron. So we took the streets and created the “frontlines”. The frontlines
were where most of the local self help initiatives were developed, but it also became the spot where most of
the “hustlers” congregated, and where the flash points with the police occurred. All of the riots of the 80’s
took place on or around the frontlines, and as a result those who took part were often referred to as the
community’s soldiers.
37. In 1985 I vehemently defended the rights of my community, the black community of Broadwater Farm,
to defend itself against racist attacks by the police. I still think that that at the time this was an appropriate
course of action as no one else sought to defend us. However, it is clear that the establishment of the frontlines
was a misguided and regressive act. It’s an act that our young are still playing out and paying for.
38. Ironically, those young kids who can so easily pick up a blade and push it into the bodies of other kids
who look like just them, think of themselves as soldiers too, as they see themselves as defending their Endz.
39. The Endz only came about as a result of the breaking down of the frontlines. It became impractical to
have such large gatherings of black men without them coming under the close scrutiny by the police, so when
cocaine became a commodity those who chose to peddle it recognised the need for smaller less conspicuous
spots to hang out and do their thing. This spawned the birth of the Endz, local territory for local crews.
40. The key point nowadays is that these youngsters have grown into and grown up in a time when the ethos
has been around defending their Endz, for obvious reasons, so it has become a principle. It is no longer about
making money, so it’s not always about drugs, it’s just a principle.
41. The majority of them are unaware how it all started, they probably don’t even care as it has become a
way of life. It is all that they know, it is ingrained in them and unless we can help these kids and the adults
who reinforce this mentality in them, ain’t nothing ever gonna change!
42. This is where the “hood mentality” has evolved from. There are hundreds of “invisible” leaders in the
“hood” And, as some of the proponents of this lifestyle appear to be living well, that is they are blinging, it
has a seriously seductive pull for many of our young people so these guys then become their role models.
43. If you add to this the fact that policy makers keep on making the same old mistakes, when responding
to the issues that all of this throws up, eg the use of exemplary and punitive sentences which simply reinforces
the cynicism of this group of black people you will begin to understand why there is an everlasting supply of
new soldiers for the Endz to utilise.
44. I do not want to create an unnecessary link with suicide bombers but that’s the same kind of thing that’s
happening in the “hood” on a daily basis. Some young black people see themselves as martyrs to “the cause”.
They are imploding instead of exploding, but the process is the similar as it is one borne out of a sense of
frustration, disaffection and marginalisation.
45. Added to this there is also a growing sense of fatalism that means that no amount of punitive responses
will ever stop them. Telling these kids that you are going to lock them up for even longer is akin to telling
someone strapped with a bomb “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
46. The solution is not to have a war on young people or even on gangs. The war has to be on the mindset
that too many young people have adopted. You cannot imprison a mindset you have to undermine it and prove
it wrong.
47. Nowadays it’s not just the black kids who are buying into this, it’s all of them. The Endz is an area it is
not a gang, there might be any number of different groups of kids who live in the same locality. They are now
expected to come together to defend their turf as it belongs to them all, but this does not make them a gang,
although, it can all too often make them a target of other crews. This is why it has become so widespread. It
is true that some black kids are at the fore of this but this is only because of the experiences from the frontlines,
but if you locked up every single one of them the situation will not have been addressed, as other groups will
simply take their place. You only have to look to America for the evidence to substantiate this.
48. Policy and law makers have to understand this properly as there is a cancer in our community and it has
to either be treated or be cut out. It is in all of our interests that this is done sooner rather than later. However,
the level of debate that I am witnessing focuses on the symptoms and not on the causes. It is focussing on the
very tip of the iceberg not the whole mass. If you were weeding your garden you wouldn’t expect to kill the
weeds by cutting off their tops, you know you have to deal with the roots. And, you’d know that if you did
not clear them effectively they will simply re-grow, more resistant than the time before.
49. In many ways, weeding out the bad youths is similar to weeding the garden; you can take those kids
and do what you want with them. But, if you return them to their Endz they will get re infected and become