Shootings up 25 per cent in Hackney in a year, new data shows

Gun Discharges Rise: Weapon discovered in Hackney. Photograph: Metropolitan Police.

Hackney witnessed a 25 per cent surge in shootings in a single year, new figures show – but the council has sought to reassure people that the number of gang members in the borough is “insignificant”.

According to a report by Hackney’s Integrated Gangs Unit (IGU), there were 25 gun discharges – offences where a lethal weapon is fired – in the twelve months up to July 2018.

That is a 25 per cent jump on the 20 shootings recorded in the year to July 2017.

The data was presented to the Living in Hackney Scrutiny Commission at a meeting on 13 September.

Gun crime – defined by the Metropolitan Police as any crime involving both lethal and non-lethal weapons – is down 25 per cent in the borough compared to 2017.

Community safety manager Maurice Mason emphasised the importance of greater outreach to make clear that gang-related activity is “insignificant” in terms of the wider population.

Mason said: “What an effective communication strategy can do is to marginalise the criminal, to deprive them of that communication of opportunity.

“Those individuals are seen as a behemoth within the borough, but in fact they are insignificant in comparison with the community.”

Mason noted that in the year to July 2018 there has in fact been a decline in gun usage overall, which he attributes to effective police enforcement and community outreach.

Since July, there have been eight firearms discharges in the borough, resulting in two serious injuries.

Since November 2017, six people in the borough have been murdered in gang disputes.

He added that those involved in gangs and gun crime represent a miniscule proportion of the population, and that their prominence in the life of the borough is often exaggerated by sensationalist reporting in the media.

The commission was informed that current hotspots in the borough for gang-related crime include Manor House, Stoke Newington, Stamford Hill and Hoxton.

Since January 2018 there have been 60 serious incidents of violence involving gangs in Hackney, with the majority of these involving lethal weapons.

Discussing the statistics, Mason attributed the rise in gun violence to social media, and more specifically to drill music lyrics posted online.

He denied that there was a close link between the recent spate of firearms discharges and the drugs trade.