Editing Brixton (section)

===Gun crime===
In June 1998, gun crime in Brixton was reported on widely in connection with the linked murders of Avril Johnson and Michelle Carby, in Brixton and Stratford respectively. Both women were shot in their homes in separate, but connected, attacks; in addition, both victims were shot in the head.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/149739.stm |title=Two more arrests in London murder inquiry |work=BBC News |date=12 August 1998 |access-date=21 July 2008 |archive-date=16 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116021846/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/149739.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008 Tony Thompson, a former ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]'' news editor, reported that "''Gun crime began to escalate following a series of south London gang executions in the late 1990s.''" Thompson states that "Previous Met operations were seen as putting down the black community. Trident, from the start, was intelligence-led and had strong links with the black community."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/4285/Ten_years_of_Operation_Trident.html |title=Ten years of Operation Trident |work=Time Out |access-date=21 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115174606/http://www.timeout.com/london/features/4285/Ten_years_of_Operation_Trident.html |archive-date=15 January 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2001 the Metropolitan Police raised concerns over rapidly increasing gun crime in London. At the time Lambeth had the highest rate of robberies in London. In July 2001 two armed police officers shot dead black 29-year-old Derek Bennett in Brixton, Angell Town Estate, after Bennett brandished a gun-shaped cigarette lighter. The verdict of the subsequent inquest ruled that Bennett had been "lawfully killed", the verdict was upheld in a subsequent appeal.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1471716.stm |title=Police fears over rising gun crime |work=BBC News |date=3 August 2001 |access-date=21 July 2008 |archive-date=16 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116021841/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1471716.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/news/pr151204_bennett.htm IPCC.gov.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402120832/http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/news/pr151204_bennett.htm |date=2 April 2015 }}</ref><ref>[http://web.ukonline.co.uk/localonline/d/0040dben.htm UKonline.co.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105200642/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/localonline/d/0040dben.htm |date=5 January 2009 }}</ref>

In December 2004 Operation Trident officers and armed officers were assisting Lambeth police in a number of stop and search operations targeting "suspected gunmen or vehicles that have been associated with firearms" and called "Operation Trident Swoop" by the police. The Metropolitan Police hoped that "the searches will deter suspects from carrying weapons and prevent shootings taking place, as well as possibly recovering weapons and leading to arrests."<ref name="autogenerated3">{{cite web |author=Metropolitan Police |url=http://cms.met.police.uk/news/appeals/drugs/operation_trident_swoop |title=Operation Trident Swoop |publisher=Metropolitan Police Service |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050929132253/http://cms.met.police.uk/news/appeals/drugs/operation_trident_swoop |archive-date=29 September 2005}}</ref> Superintendent Jerry Savill, Lambeth Police has responsibility for policing in the Brixton area, stated:
<blockquote>This operation is aimed very specifically at people we have information to suggest may be involved in gun crime or other offences. We want to send out a very clear message to those who carry guns in Lambeth, don't. It is time to stop the vast majority of people in this borough feeling afraid to be on the street and make it the gunmen who are fearful of their community helping the police to arrest them.<ref name="autogenerated3" />
</blockquote>

In September 2006 Brixton was the scene of a widely reported shooting, involving two boys being shot in the packed McDonald's on Brixton Road/Acre Lane.<ref>[http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2006/09/29/topnews/boys-shot-in-brixton-mcdonald39s.html Boys shot in Brixton McDonald's] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106071137/http://www.tiscali.co.uk/news/newswire.php/news/reuters/2006/09/29/topnews/boys-shot-in-brixton-mcdonald39s.html |date=6 January 2009 }}</ref>

In 2007 firearm offences rose by 4 per cent in London, totalling 3,459 "gun-enabled" crimes, including 30 gun murders of which nine victims were aged 18 or under. A series of gun crimes in the Brixton, Clapham and Streatham, including the Murders of three boys in one week, led some media commentators to call the area "gun capital".<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |url=http://www.timeout.com/london/features/4285/Ten_years_of_Operation_Trident.html |title=The Metropolitan Police's Operation Trident on Gun Crime |work=Time Out London |access-date=21 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115174606/http://www.timeout.com/london/features/4285/Ten_years_of_Operation_Trident.html |archive-date=15 January 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>