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| Being mugged has left me scared in the city I call home | Being mugged has left me scared in the city I call home |
| (3 months later) | |
| Last Friday I was walking home from the train station when someone came up from behind and pushed me as he cut me off on his bike and snatched my phone from my hand. My first reaction was to shout at him, but as I looked at him I decided against it. He was a big man but I couldn’t see his face under a balaclava. I suddenly panicked. What if he stabbed me or threw acid in my face? I felt exposed. Cars had stopped to watch and there were groups of people outside the pub celebrating Halloween, dressed as zombies. Yet not a single person approached to see if I was OK. I was in shock, shaking and scared. Alone. | Last Friday I was walking home from the train station when someone came up from behind and pushed me as he cut me off on his bike and snatched my phone from my hand. My first reaction was to shout at him, but as I looked at him I decided against it. He was a big man but I couldn’t see his face under a balaclava. I suddenly panicked. What if he stabbed me or threw acid in my face? I felt exposed. Cars had stopped to watch and there were groups of people outside the pub celebrating Halloween, dressed as zombies. Yet not a single person approached to see if I was OK. I was in shock, shaking and scared. Alone. |
| These sorts of street muggings have been steadily on the rise – while moped crime has gone up 30-fold over the past five years – and at times it’s easy to feel desensitised. But days after this attack I still feel shaken. I was held up at gunpoint in the Dominican Republic when I was 18, but this feels worse. That time a man pulled his car up alongside the pavement and tried to catch my attention. “Hey mami,” he shouted in Spanish, “come and talk to me for a minute.” I confidently held my head up and ignored him so he decided to teach me a lesson by mounting the kerb, getting out of the car and holding a gun to my face. That was traumatic, but last Friday, metres from my home, in London, where there is about one CCTV camera to every 14 people, I felt vulnerable in an entirely different way. | These sorts of street muggings have been steadily on the rise – while moped crime has gone up 30-fold over the past five years – and at times it’s easy to feel desensitised. But days after this attack I still feel shaken. I was held up at gunpoint in the Dominican Republic when I was 18, but this feels worse. That time a man pulled his car up alongside the pavement and tried to catch my attention. “Hey mami,” he shouted in Spanish, “come and talk to me for a minute.” I confidently held my head up and ignored him so he decided to teach me a lesson by mounting the kerb, getting out of the car and holding a gun to my face. That was traumatic, but last Friday, metres from my home, in London, where there is about one CCTV camera to every 14 people, I felt vulnerable in an entirely different way. |
| Those who commit these crimes know they’re unlikely to be caught. Eight years of cuts have taken their toll, and there’s news this week that police chiefs are considering taking legal action against the government in response. | Those who commit these crimes know they’re unlikely to be caught. Eight years of cuts have taken their toll, and there’s news this week that police chiefs are considering taking legal action against the government in response. |
| What viewpoints do you think need to be heard that aren’t currently? Do you feel your community is represented? If you’re a young person, what’s your experience and are there changes you would you like to see? | What viewpoints do you think need to be heard that aren’t currently? Do you feel your community is represented? If you’re a young person, what’s your experience and are there changes you would you like to see? |
| You can share your views and experiences using our encrypted form here. We will use some of your responses in our reporting. Only the Guardian has access to your contributions. | You can share your views and experiences using our encrypted form here. We will use some of your responses in our reporting. Only the Guardian has access to your contributions. |
| This summer I was reporting on the rise of Pablo Escobar tours in Colombia and I spoke with the mayor of Medellín about its reputation as a dangerous city. Yet he pointed to the terrorist attacks and violence that occur in Britain. His words have stuck with me as I have thought about the stories I have covered in recent years, from the killing of Myron Yarde in south London to reporting from the London Bridge attacks. I don’t need headlines to tell me that violence is on the rise; I’m reminded every day as I walk past the memorial for Alan Cartwright, who was stabbed to death on Caledonian Road a few years ago. How bad do things need to get before we do something about it? | This summer I was reporting on the rise of Pablo Escobar tours in Colombia and I spoke with the mayor of Medellín about its reputation as a dangerous city. Yet he pointed to the terrorist attacks and violence that occur in Britain. His words have stuck with me as I have thought about the stories I have covered in recent years, from the killing of Myron Yarde in south London to reporting from the London Bridge attacks. I don’t need headlines to tell me that violence is on the rise; I’m reminded every day as I walk past the memorial for Alan Cartwright, who was stabbed to death on Caledonian Road a few years ago. How bad do things need to get before we do something about it? |
| Funding the police better is an obvious first step, but that will never be enough. You cannot carry out stop and search on every person in the city who is on a bike or a moped, or wearing a tracksuit. The real issue lies much deeper, at the heart of our communities. It’s no coincidence that as London becomes more divided between rich and poor, violent crime is on the rise. The most dangerous places around the world are those that struggle with poverty and inequality. | Funding the police better is an obvious first step, but that will never be enough. You cannot carry out stop and search on every person in the city who is on a bike or a moped, or wearing a tracksuit. The real issue lies much deeper, at the heart of our communities. It’s no coincidence that as London becomes more divided between rich and poor, violent crime is on the rise. The most dangerous places around the world are those that struggle with poverty and inequality. |
| That’s not to say that the people carrying out these crimes are simply innocent victims. But we as a society cannot continue to firefight the symptoms of this disease while ignoring its causes. | That’s not to say that the people carrying out these crimes are simply innocent victims. But we as a society cannot continue to firefight the symptoms of this disease while ignoring its causes. |
| • Iman Amrani is a Guardian multimedia journalist | • Iman Amrani is a Guardian multimedia journalist |
| Crime | Crime |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Inequality | Inequality |
| London | London |
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