Gangster glamour blamed for street murders

One of Britain's most senior black police officers has criticised the "gangster glamour" culture that he blames for the increasing number of gang murders in London.

Superintendent Leroy Logan, who becomes London's highest ranking African Caribbean police officer next week, says fresh ideas are needed to prevent more killings such as the stabbing of 16-year-old Robert Levy in Hackney last week.

Mr Logan called for more preventative police measures and said the seduction of music videos by "gangsta rap" bands such as So Solid Crew makes young people want to join street gangs.

On Monday he takes over as head of operations in Hackney, a borough notorious for feuding gangs.

He said: "We are now seeing so many senseless killings such as the death of Robert Levy. We need to be more preventative, we need to reduce the client base, the foot soldiers, of these gangs. The life expectancy is 20 to 25. If you get to 25 you are an elder, and that cannot be right."

Mr Logan, a married father of three, said young people were being drawn to crime partly by the lure of the "bling bling" gangster lifestyle.

He says that 80 per cent of ethnic minority groups live in the top 10 deprived boroughs in the country.

"Combine that poverty trap with dysfunctional families, underachievement in schools and then a lack of good job opportunities and people ask, why should I work 40 hours a week in a job with no prospects? They want to live the dream, they see the videos and unfortunately a certain type of music - including urban, garage and hip hop - is all about gangster glamour, the fast lifestyle, the 'bling bling'.

"The attraction of crime is the quick money, the quick lifestyle, but that can lead to a quick death." He believes one way forward is to create more partnerships between the police and the community. One success he cites is the Young Black Positive Advocates, a group of about 80 teenagers who volunteer to educate fellow young people about their rights and responsibilities.

A founder member of the Black Police Association in 1993, Mr Logan believes the Met has taken huge steps forward since the Macpherson report on the Stephen Lawrence inquiry.

He highlights the creation of community safety units and better family liaison officers but says black men remain eight times more likely to be stopped and searched.