CCTV demands after string of shootings on estate (From Streatham Guardian)

CCTV demands after string of shootings on Tulse Hill estate

6:50am Thursday 3rd September 2009 in News By Matt Watts

Residents on an estate troubled by a string of shootings have called for CCTV to crackdown on escalating gang clashes.

Purser House on the Tulse Hill Estate has been witness to three separate shooting incidents in the past two months - the latest at 7.45pm last Tuesday night.

Residents have said the incidents are “tit-for-tat” clashes between gangs of youths from rival estates, and warned lives will be lost unless more is done.

Police have previously linked increased firearms on the estate to drug dealers in “organised gangs”. A recent raid recovered drugs, cash, firearms, ammunition, and bullet-proof vests.

Resident Madina Ibrahim, 46, said she “had been living in fear” after finding the victim of a shooting last month bleeding outside her front door.

She said: “It's frightening. Someone is going to be killed if this keeps going.

"The shootings have been late at night but the last one was while it was still light.

"We can’t go on living like this”

She added: “I think those responsible think they can get away with it and no-one will catch them. At least with cameras they will think twice about being caught on film.”

Some 20 teenagers on bikes were spotted outside Purser House prior to the shooting on August 25.

Bullet casings were recovered at the scene and a car sustained gunshot damage. No-one is believed to have been injured.

Other incidents have been more serious.

In January a 14-year-old boy was shot in the face and a 16-year-old hit in the arm by a shotgun in a similar incident.

A resident, who did not want to be named, said she had previously had reservations about putting cameras on the estate, but felt the situation was “spiralling out of control” to the point they were needed as “a deterrent”.

Question marks were raised recently over the effectiveness of CCTV in catching criminals, with a recent Met Police report stating for every 1,000 cameras in London, less than one crime was solved per year.

A Lambeth police spokeswoman would not say if they were in favour of CCTV but said officers were deploying a range of policing tactics to deal with violent crime there, supporting the work of the safer neighbourhood team.

A Lambeth Council spokeswoman said the local authority was working closely with the police to address concerns.

She added mobile CCTV units were being trailed to gather evidence in specific areas and this scheme could be extended.

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