Trident failures feed stop snitching campaign.
Mayor and Commissioner remain oblivious to the crisis facing Trident. Lee Jasper - Posted on 14 January 2011
Mayor and Commissioner remain oblivious to the crisis facing Trident. Lee Jasper - Posted on 14 January 2011
You may have read of late of a nasty campaign of open witness intimidation taking place on the Pelican Estate Peckham London. This is the scene of the recent murder of teenager Sylvester Akalapara on the 29th December. Leaflets have appeared in various locations around the south London Estate and they urge non cooperation with the police.
The Stop Snitching leaflet states; “We will be able to give you first-hand accounts of how Operation Trident have ruined the lives of witnesses, you will be able to listen to real covert recordings and watch videos of how they actually deal with you. “And you will be able to hear and see for yourself how quickly they turn on you if you change your mind about helping them.”hen destroy your life. “We will be able to give you first-hand accounts of how Operation Trident have ruined the lives of witnesses, you will be able to listen to real covert recordings and watch videos of how they actually deal with you. “And you will be able to hear and see for yourself how quickly they turn on you if you change your mind about helping them.”
The fact that the leaflets are backed up with a website is extremely worrying indication of a seriously organised campaign . It says: “Don’t be deceived by promises of anonymity, protection, and rewards, they will say and do anything to make you snitch, then destroy your life. “We will be able to give you first-hand accounts of how Operation Trident have ruined the lives of witnesses, you will be able to listen to real covert recordings and watch videos of how they actually deal with you.
The Met and Trident in particular have been quick to slam the leaflets as " irresponsible" and many community leaders have stressed the importance of working with the police. Today a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said no investigation had been launched, nor that there was any strong indication the flyers were specifically aimed at their investigation into the death of Mr Akapalara.
Of course the leaflets are to be condemned but the MPS are making a big mistake if they fail to understand the significance of the leaflet and the reality on the ground that Trident is fast losing credibility and the criminals sense that Operation Trident is weakened. First the belief that this is not targeted at those who know what happened in the Akalapara case is nauseating in it's naivety. Unfortunately it's reflective of a trend. The reality is that Trident is in a bad way. Cuts to Trident budgets have resulted in them ending their massively effective advertising and community engagements campaigns.
That was a critical error. The Trident posters provided massive reassurance, boosted community confidence and community events led by the Independent Trident Advisers (IAG) gave Trident the edge in the war of misinformation that is the battle ground between criminals and the police in trying to maintain community confidence.
Videos and music slamming Trident on You Tube and on the urban underground mix tapes are becoming extremely popular. To dismiss this campaign as the work of a small group of individuals is to miss a very important point. As Trident has retreated in the battle for hearts and minds and the consequent impact on community confidence, so it has had to rely more heavily on the use of supergrass evidence.
There are real questions about the quality of witness protection and Tridents failures to meet the needs of vulnerable witnesses. The use of protected witnesses giving evidence in court whose identities remain concealed has also backfired with a hugely corrosive effect on community confidence. The fact that Tridents budget is to be cut further combined with the besmirching of Tridents reputation through the over reliance on supergrass evidence has not gone unnoticed on the streets.
Videos and music slamming Trident on You Tube and on the urban underground mix tapes are becoming extremely popular. To dismiss this campaign as the work of a small group of individuals is to miss a very important point. As Trident has retreated in the battle for hearts and minds and the consequent impact on community confidence, so it has had to rely more heavily on the use of supergrass evidence.
There are real questions about the quality of witness protection and Tridents failures to meet the needs of vulnerable witnesses. The use of protected witnesses giving evidence in court whose identities remain concealed has also backfired with a hugely corrosive effect on community confidence. The fact that Tridents budget is to be cut further combined with the besmirching of Tridents reputation through the over reliance on supergrass evidence has not gone unnoticed on the streets.
The criminals sense that Trident has returned to the bad old days of heavy reliance on using criminal informers and that plays right into their hands. Nightmare stories, some true some false, are circulating about Tridents ability to protect witnesses. The potential for this Stop Snitching campaign going viral with music, t-shirts and videos is massive. In my view that battle is already lost and the gangs are set to regain their psychological grip of fear on communities.
All this in the context of massive closure of youth crime prevention projects , youth clubs, removal of the EMA grants and rising black youth unemployment is creating the conditions where the battle for hearts and minds is bring lost by Trident. The fact that they have decided not to investigate who produced these leaflets is another indication of how uninformed Scotland Yard has become about the real situation . This movement is growing virally and has real potential.
There is a real danger of this insidious campaign engulfing communities as young people who feel increasingly alienated and abandoned are won over against a backdrop of massive cuts to Trident and authority youth services and reinforced by increasing horror stories about witness protection and discredited supergrass evidence.
The Mayor and the Commissioner having no idea what's going on in these London estates remain oblivious to the fact that a once flagship policing unit whose officers enjoyed higher levels of Trust and confidence than regular Met officers is in crisis. Their failure to understand the community dynamics of black communities, youth culture and gun crime is extremely dangerous.
The importance of advertising in maintaining confidence in communities, the rumors about Trident budget cuts and possible closure, the acidic dangers to community confidence through the over reliance on discredited supergrasses and protected witnesses amounts to a dangerous complacency that could cost lives.
The importance of advertising in maintaining confidence in communities, the rumors about Trident budget cuts and possible closure, the acidic dangers to community confidence through the over reliance on discredited supergrasses and protected witnesses amounts to a dangerous complacency that could cost lives.
That a campaign of open witness intimidation can be dismissed in such a cavalier manner is beyond belief. This campaign is already embedded in London youth culture and is being reinforced by these strategic failures. The consequence will be murderers acting with relative impunity and a community too frightened and lacking in confidence to do anything about it.
