Conservative Councillors were heartbroken to learn of the murders of Cameron Smith in Shrublands and Damarie Roye in Bensham Manor over the last week. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of both of these young boys, whose lives have been so tragically and cruelly stolen.
At Cabinet on Monday 12th July, Cllr. Andy Stranack (Shadow Cabinet Member for Safer Croydon) reported that he had been listening to community leaders who were warning of a summer of gang violence and knife crime across Croydon.
Andy Stranack called for the Council to work with its partners to produce an emergency strategy within the next 30 days, that focuses on how to tackle gang and youth violence across Croydon over the summer months.
He also called for the immediate purchase of mobile knife arches that the police could deploy across the borough to reduce the growing knife crime epidemic.
Cllr. Shahul-Hameed, a Labour Cabinet Member, informed us that the Council was currently working with partners to develop a new Community Safety Strategy that should be in place by the end of March 2022.
In response, Andy Stranack said:
“Croydon Labour are simply taking too long to act on what local experts and community leaders predict will be a summer of violence in Croydon. They want to sit around in the Town Hall and write endless bureaucratic ‘strategies’ that won’t even see the light of day until 2022. It’s just not good enough. Our town is reeling from a devastating attack on our community – we need action and leadership now, or more lives will be lost. The purchase of knife arches could make a real and immediate impact.”
