Inside Operation Trident
Updated on 15 June 2007
Exclusive: An special report on the police operation targeting black gun crime in south London where several high profile shootings have occurred recently.
It's the front line facing gun crime on Britain's streets: Channel 4 News has obtained exclusive access to Operation Trident, the police unit dealing with the spate of gun crime in London's black community.
It reveals a unique insight into shooting investigations and armed response. As we were filming - officers arrested one suspect in the killing of 15-year old Billy Cox - shot dead in his home in February.
Exclusive: Inside Operation Trident
Watch the exclusive report by our home affairs correspondent Simon Israel.
Watch the report
The treatment - or mistreatment - of the black community by the criminal justice system was highlighted today by MPs investigating the problem.
Young Black People and Criminal Justice
Their research found that black people are six times more likely to be "stopped and searched" by police.
It estimates that 75 per cent of all young black people will be on the new DNA database, due to disproportionate arrest rates.
Black people are more likely to be victims of gun killings: a third of all black homicide victims were shot and 75 percent of gun crime victims in London were black.
The report points to social exclusion and depravation as causes, and suggests "safe houses" where gang members can seek refuge from a life of crime.
And it criticised the Criminal Justice System Race Unit, which has failed to report concrete reasons why black people are more likely to be stopped by police, arrested and jailed -- five years after it was set up.
Community leaders say these findings need real action from the government.
