Gangs are ‘Colossal Problem’ in London Which is Often Ignored, Says Policing Expert

Undated image of Chris Hobbs, a retired police officer, being interviewed on NTD's "British Thought Leaders" in London on Feb. 2, 2024. NTD

Gangs in London are a “colossal problem” which are too often ignored by critics of the police, according to a commentator who served in the Metropolitan Police for 30 years.

Chris Hobbs, a former Met officer and now a commentator on policing, said last year’s review by Baroness Louise Casey into the force’s standards of behaviour and internal culture “barely mentioned” gangs.

Speaking to NTD’s Lee Hall for the “British Thought Leaders” programme, Mr. Hobbs said: “It’s a colossal problem in London. The gangs control certain areas. Some of these gangs have been in existence for more than 20 years.”

He said: “In the Casey report she barely mentioned the issue of gangs in London, in fact I don’t think she did mention it. She mentioned a couple of reports by the inspectorate into stop-and-search but no real  reference to gangs at all.”

Last year Sheldon Thomas, a former gang member and the founder and CEO of Gangsline, told “British Thought Leaders,” “Gang culture in our society is a big problem.”

Mr. Hobbs addressed the issue of the links between violent gangs and drill music, which The Epoch Times has reported on throughout 2023.

He said, “The drill rappers have to be tough and hard and gain reputation, and these are personalities in their right, personalities who will have hundreds of thousands of followers and everybody knows they’re bad. Everybody knows one’s just been arrested. There’s a whole culture of them in prisons.”

“It’s almost as if the drill rappers to stay on top of their game have to be violent. They can’t be seen to be losing a fight or getting battered, or if they do they have to get their revenge quickly,” added Mr. Hobbs.

‘Gang Leaders ... are Personalities’

Mr. Hobbs said, “The gang problem in London is massive, and it’s made worse by the fact that the gang leaders, the drill rappers, are personalities, literally worshipped and followed by hundreds of thousands of youngsters.

“It’s a major, major problem, and it’s one that I think the Met needs to inform the public of how serious a problem it is.”

He said: “They attack rival gang members, they insult each other on YouTube on their drill music videos, and of course, then it spreads. It’s almost a knife has become a fashion accessory.”

Last month Courtney Ellis, a member of the Church Road Soldiers gang in the London Borough of Brent, was convicted of murdering Craig Small, a rival from the Stonebridge gang, in 2019.

Several young men filming a drill video in Notting Hill, west London, on May 6, 2023. Chris Summers/The Epoch Times

The Old Bailey trial was told the murder happened a month after a key figure in the Church Road Soldiers, a rapper called Nines, was stabbed and robbed of a gold necklace by Stonebridge gang members.

Mr. Hobbs said the Met had made efforts to take drill music videos down but, “they just get reposted.”

He said he had a lot of friends in the teaching profession and he said, “Teachers will tell you about the problems they’ve got with gangs in schools ... The gang culture across London is absolutely massive.”

Mr. Hobbs said the police across Britain was stretched to the maximum and he said it did not help that there were endless campaigns and criticism from campaigners, politicians and the media saying the, “police need to do more.”

Police Can’t ‘Make Everything a Priority’

He said the list of issues which the police were berated for, included mental health, dangerous cyclists, Rolex robberies, burglaries and shoplifting but he said, “they haven’t got the resources to make everything a priority.”

He said Britain had 100,000 fewer police officers than France, a country with a similar sized population, and he said if there were more police officers the public would, “get better results.”

“At the moment there are not enough police and you’ve got police officers leaving, certainly in the Met, faster than they can be recruited,” added Mr. Hobbs, who said morale among the rank and file was at rock bottom.

He said: “Everyone’s a critic at the moment, from the political right to the political right. Buy by and large I think those on the front line do a pretty good job.”

Mr. Hobbs said the police were often criticised for things which were out of their control.

Metropolitan Police officers patrol the ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in Stamford Hill, north London on Oct. 13, 2023. Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP

He said there was, “a huge amount of bureaucracy” which went into every arrest and he said sometimes the Crown Prosecution Service would decide not to charge a person, often without giving a proper reason.

“So there’s a lot of tension between officers and the Crown Prosecution Service. Often the police will get blamed by the victim if somebody doesn’t end up in court being punished for the crime, but often it’s the Crown Prosecution Service who decide to drop it,” he said.

Mr. Hobbs also criticised Scotland Yard for poor communications, or “comms” and he said an example was Sir Mark Rowley’s assertion that he had to get rid of hundreds of corrupt or racist officers.

He said: “So, probably the member of the public will think if they’re facing a police officer, they’re probably thinking, Oh, God, you know, I’m talking to a corrupt, misogynistic racist here. There’s no balance. So I think the frustration really is the message to the commissioner and chief constables is get your comms in order.”

“Get good work, good performance, life-saving work, and get it out there. So the public true perspective of what policing is all about and what officers achieve on a daily basis,” added Mr. Hobbs.