Letter to MPS Haringey Borough Commander

Ryan Burton King

48-50 Park Ridings

London, N8 0LD

gracewoodgreen@gmail.com

09 March 2018

Dear Detective Chief Superintendent Millichap

I write as a local community and faith leader with regards to the recent murder of a nineteen-year old man in the vicinity of the Wood Green Vue Cinema, and related issues.  I was grieved to hear of yet another violent attack in our area, this one (as doubtless others were intended to) tragically ending in death. Indeed, our first response as a community to such things can only be to grieve, encourage emergency services, and support local law enforcement officers, especially when other information is not forthcoming.

As always there are those those who speculate that the teenaged man was in some way guilty of wrongdoing that led to this, and then there are those who postulate that no, he was a good boy and is totally innocent, gunned down in cold blood. Both groups initially miss the most obvious point. A fellow human - according to my Christian faith, indeed, an image-bearer of God -  is now dead because of the violence that the evil in someone's heart drove them to commit. I recognise that in this age of rampant secularism and moral relativism, my terminology of “evil” may be deemed passé by some, but surely as a police officer you recognise it, indeed confront it every day. Evil is why there is and must be law, and those such as yourself who are tasked with enforcing the law can only administer justice in a context that lifts up what is good and puts down what is evil. The murder of the young man was evil and in the most straightforward terms - contrary to shrill voices of irrational quarters in our community - the deceased is not responsible, the police are not responsible, and the very weapon wielded is not responsible. Responsibility lies squarely with the depraved individual who made a conscious decision to carry the gun and pull the trigger, defying law and destroying life.

Nevertheless, responsibility of the guilty party for the slain man’s murder does not in any way absolve the Metropolitan Police in Haringey of significant failings that have led to the cultivating of a context in which young adult crime flourishes and yesterday’s murder could all too easily and devastatingly take place.

Last night an alert member of my congregation shared with me that the deceased was known in the area’s street scene, and alerted me to chatter on some rather dark corners of Twitter where accounts such as @UKDrillNews and plenty of individuals were talking openly about the incident, sharing photos of the deceased (including of his body, bullet through his head and all), tributes, rap videos allegedly made by the deceased, a video reportedly from twenty minutes before the shooting, ominous warnings about more bodies dropping, and reference to the endless “Totty” and “Woody” post-code feud. Unfortunately, confidence in the local police is so low that my friend and congregant wondered if the police even monitor these accounts for information – if they did, perhaps they would be more alert and proactive.

Even more illuminating – I discovered that I have seen the deceased and his crew many times and on several occasions I have reported them to the police for antisocial behaviour, drug-dealing, harassment of passer-by, and aggressive behaviour. They regularly loitered in the area, smoking and dealing skunk cannabis, riding their bicycles around in circles, blocking the entrances to PaddyPower and McDonald’s with hands down their trousers playing with their privates, acting like they owned the place. I had occasion as recently as a week or so ago to identify a man wanted in connection to the stabbing of a shop-keeper as someone who I was sure I had seen with them in that area. Last year, after a personal encounter with the group, a chat with the terrified and utterly helpless McDonald’s manager, and a subsequent call to the police, I predicted that if the situation was not contained and the problem resolved, someone would be hurt, perhaps even killed. This is a prophecy I would rather have gone unfulfilled.

The almost total absence of any visible police presence on one of the nation’s busiest high roads is unacceptable. When, as at Christmas, it is more visible – it is spread so far up and down the street as to be utterly ineffectual and there is no sustained, strategically stationed presence whatsoever at the busiest ends of the high road – the areas around Wood Green and Turnpike Lane tube stations. For years I have alerted police to the problems in these areas, and they have only ever known my full support and cooperation. To the surprise of some and concern of others, I quite gladly have even gone to court to openly testify against a drug gang operating in these areas. I cannot help to think though that my voice and those of many others - the feedback we have given, the suggestions we have made, and the assistance we have lent -  have been ignored, neglected, and taken for granted.

I am aware that some rather appalling cuts have been made that make your job much more difficult. To be frank though, Wood Green’s criminal activity, social ills, and law-enforcement issues predate those cuts. Furthermore, locals increasingly weary of this excusatory talk of “cuts”. Some, such as myself, heard directly from one of your predecessors how thousands of pounds worth of police bicycles meant to increase visibility and mobility sit unused in Haringey and how 50% of PDAs intended to keep police out of the office and out on the beat are likewise unused. Such inexcusable waste does not instil confidence that you are using what you do have well enough to legitimise complaints about what you do not have. It also must be asked, which is the greater cost? A visible presence of three officers stationed at High Road hotspots or the three-score years a young man should have had left to live? A light sustained presence over time, or a heavy, frantic presence of multiple emergency services scrambled to a man bleeding out in the streets, costing police, ambulance, and hospital services never-mind potential damage done to the local economy and further harm to the area’s reputation?

I urge you – talk to the community, trust the insight of community leaders actually on the ground at the grassroots level and working on the front lines, and take control of the situation. Some of us work hard to be the change we want to see, but we weary when those with lawful power, actual influence, and decision making authority do not care to join us or fill the air with pious platitudes, empty assurances, and insubstantial virtue signalling.

Sincerely yours,

Ryan Burton King

Pastor, Grace Baptist Church - www.gracebaptistchurch.org.uk

Co-chair, Parkside Malvern Residents Association – www.pmra.co.uk

Coordinator, Sunrise Neighbourhood Watch