Guns and Gangs - Hardcover

Graeme McLagan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0749083484 ISBN 13: 9780749083489

Publisher: Allison & Busby, 2005

Synopsis

In Guns and Gangs Graeme McLagan lifts the lid on a hugely unreported but important modern-day problem ? an expensive problem both in terms of money and young lives. After terrorism, the single greatest worry for law enforcement agencies is gun crime, and in particular the so-called ?black on black? shootings. The statistics are shocking. Black people are the victims of three-quarters of the capital`s gun murders and non-fatal shootings. The shooters in eighty per cent of cases are also black. Most black gun crime occurs in London, but Bristol, Manchester and the West Midlands are also affected; gun crime has become a national concern. Guns and Gangs traces how the trend first started in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the emergence of the so-called Yardies and crack cocaine, and the consequent turf wars. Since then the Police have launched numerous operations to tackle the problem, the big turning point for which came after the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. Most of these operations have been kept secret over the years. Now, however, Scotland Yard is prepared to open up Operation Trident in an unprecedented way, allowing McLagan exclusive access to files and case histories, showing how black gun crime is being confronted in a joint effort by police and the black community. In 2004, there were the first welcome signs of black gun crime decreasing, but the easy availability of guns and community violence in other areas of society means that this problem is far from solved. This fascinating in-depth study, containing interviews with police officers, victims, their families, witnesses, lawyers and perpetrators, highlights this under-explored phenomena and offers valuable insights into the psychology behind this disturbing form of crime.

About this title

About the Author:

GRAEME McCLAGAN specialises in long-term investigations for BBC news and current affairs programmes. He has been the BBC's expert on police corruption for more than twenty years, presenting three Panorama programmes on the subject as well as several major stories for Newsnight. He won the Royal Television Society prize for his scoops while covering the 'Arms for Iraq' scandal and was commended in 1998 for 'Bent', the second of his Panorama programmes on police corruption. He wrote the bestselling Bent Coppers and is the co-author of Mr Evil, the story of David Copeland, the neo-Nazi bomber. A born and bred Londoner, Graeme McLagan is married with two grown-up children. He is now a freelance writer and broadcaster.

Review:

'Graeme McLagan provides, perhaps for the first time, real answers - Compelling, if disturbing, reading' Evening Standard 'Chilling' Simon Jenkins, Sunday Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Allison & Busby
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0749083484
• ISBN 13: 9780749083489
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288