Image: Redbridge Peace Monument was installed by Wilson Chowdhry at the location of Kashif Mahmood’s murder at a time when teen-knife-crime was soaring in London (click here)
A noxious substance attack on a man in his twenties on Gordon Road (click here) and knife attack on Henley Road on a 17-year-old boy (click here) last week remind us all that violent crime is a real and present danger in Ilford.
The large number of shootings and stabbings in London over the last year would suggest that we are entering an unprecedented period of violence in our capital.
A reuters article in April compared the rate of murders in London to New York and found for the first time we had overtaken New York (click here) . This might not seem that significant when you consider that these are both large urban cities with massively expanding populations and a very similar level of population close to 8.5m. However New York was not long ago a byword for violence and in 1990 with 2,245 murders had a murder rate of 6 a day.
Though many commentators thought the blip was temporary, reports of shootings and stabbings have not dissipated much, if at all, in our city, moreover Redbridge continues to be mentioned in the statistics. Last week a 30 year old man was stabbed 30 times in Wanstead, the attack was caught on video (click here).
Local people have been demanding a date for a meeting with the Police to discuss the growing violence, and we are trying to organise a date with them. As soon as this is fixed we will share details with you.
In the meanwhile please share any details of violent crime in your local area, so that we can build up a profile of where the main concerns are and assist local police.
The Redbridge Peace Monument project with its creation through young people and children in the local area (click here) was designed with the purpose of inculcating ideas of peace within the next generation. It was a social harmony project that gave young people ownership of the task to improve future society (click here). The monument itself became a place for anti-knife crime groups to speak to young people about the consequences of violent crime.