CAMBRIDGE LETTER
Matters of trust
BY BILL KIRKMAN
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The Forest Gate incident has damaged the Muslim community's trust in the Metropolitan Police.
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Sense of outrage: Muslims protest outside the Forest Gate police station, London. Photo: AFP
IT is difficult to be sure about the accuracy of intelligence reports. By its nature, intelligence is not a precise science. Over the years, there have been some dramatic intelligence failures, such as, for example, the failure to predict the end of the Soviet empire.
It is worth bearing that in mind as we consider the most recent, highly publicised, intelligence failure in the United Kingdom — the raid by the Metropolitan Police on the home of a Muslim family in Forest Gate, a London district. Some 250 police officers were involved. One of two brothers living in the house was shot (fortunately not fatally). The two brothers were held in custody for several days, and then released without any charge being brought.
Major failure
The raid, carried out as a result of intelligence reports, was an example of a major intelligence failure. It has come at a time when the Metropolitan Police is already under investigation for the fatal shooting last year in the Underground of a completely innocent Brazilian.
There is no doubt about the need for a high level of alert to the possibility of terrorist attack, following the devastating bomb attacks in London last July. The politicians are taking the view that "it is better to be safe than sorry". It is a reasonable view — up to a point, but it takes too little account of the importance of recognising the need for proportionate reaction, and too little account of the fact that there is a crucial balance of risk to be judged. To be specific, one of the best safeguards against terrorist attack is a vigilant public, on the alert against suspicious activity, and ready to report such suspicions to the police. For that to occur, there has to be trust in the police on the part of people in all communities.
Traumatic experience
The Forest Gate incident has severely damaged that trust. The family in the raided house were traumatised, and residents in the area were deeply shocked. In a press conference, the brothers concerned graphically described violent behaviour by the police. There will of course be an inquiry, and final judgment of the incident should wait until it is complete, but the negative effect on police-community relations is clear. On the face of it, not only was the intelligence faulty, but the operation was conducted with a lack of intelligence (in the other sense of the word).
One unfortunate side effect has been an increase in criticism of Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, much of it coming from inside his force. Why? One reason is that he is a reformer, who sets store by community policing. This does not appeal to the "macho" elements in the Met, which is a body that has been notoriously hostile to reformers over many decades. Sir Ian Blair undoubtedly has faults, and he is under attack over the handling of last year's shooting in the Underground.
The real issue
It is obviously right that blame, and accountability, should be the subject of rigorous scrutiny, but it will be most unfortunate if the internal politics of the Met (and, it must be said, of the government) are allowed to cloud the essential issue of the need for policing in which the community — all communities — have confidence. This is particularly important at a time when Muslims are being demonised (notably by the Right-wing press). One comment by Mr. Mohammed Abdulkayar, the man shot at Forest Gate, in his press conference, is telling: "I believe the only crime I have committed is being Asian and having a long length beard".
It all amounts to a depressing aspect of current British society.
Silver linings
Fortunately, there are also some more hopeful aspects (though they do not attract so much publicity). One of these is a major new initiative taking place in Cambridge. The Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations (about which I wrote in my Cambridge Letter on December 26, 2004) is setting up the Woolf Institute, strongly supported by Lord Woolf, the recently retired Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, which will expand the Centre's work to include the study of Islam as well. To quote from their new booklet: "The purpose of the Woolf Institute is to increase understanding and knowledge, overcoming the ignorance and fear that has so often marred the relationship between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. As ongoing events in the Middle East — and indeed throughout the world — so acutely illustrate, such a project has never been more relevant or timely."
How true that is.
Bill Kirkman is an Emeritus Fellow of Wolfson College Cambridge, UK. Email him at: bill.kirkman@gmail.com
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