“It’s a dangerous situation we’re in at the moment. I’m speaking to people who are terrified and frightened. It’s like that TV show, This City Is Ours… our town is burning.”
These were the stark words of a veteran local councillor in Middlesbrough as the Government agreed to send at least 200 extra police officers from neighbouring regions to deal with gang warfare that has spiralled out of control in recent days.
Despite being an elected politician, she asked not to be identified due to the current tensions and the fear of becoming a target in the escalating tit-for-tat violence.
Last weekend, two police officers and five young men died when a VW Passat fleeing a pursuit smashed into a patrol car while travelling the wrong way down the A66.
Police have now said they believe the chase is linked to an incident where another vehicle, a Volvo XC60, rammed the home of Cole Worthy, one of the boys in the Passat, in the early hours of the morning.
The Passat is believed to have been pursuing the Volvo before Cleveland Police became involved.
The house in Middlesbrough where a seven-year-old girl and her aunt died in a fire. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder (Photo: Owen Humphreys/PA)While local residents have reacted with shock and disgust to the deaths, Middlesbrough has been rocked by further tragedy when a seven-year-old girl, Valentina Foster, and her aunt, 34-year-old Natalie McDonald, 34, died in a house fire on Wednesday.
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder and police say they cannot rule out a link to wider organised crime.
Barely 24 hours later, armed police were responding to another serious incident in Middlesbrough, with claims of a machete attack that left a man with stab wounds.
“My feeling at the moment is, why have we let it get to the place it’s got to?” the councillor said.
‘People can see what the police are up against’
Middlesbrough has been struggling with high levels of crime for decades.
As far back as 2001, crime figures were above the national average. Cleveland Police launched a “zero tolerance” crackdown on antisocial behaviour, criminal damage and drug-related crime called Operation Anvil in 2007. However, despite a short-lived reduction, the number of recorded offences has risen by around 22 per cent since 2008.
During the years of austerity, police numbers fell from 1,756 officers in 2009 to 1,198 in 2019.
The most recent stats show Cleveland Police registered 123.4 crimes per 1,000 people, the highest in England and Wales and way above the average of 84.7.
Police officers Tom Clough and Matthew Blades died in the crash last week (Photo: PA)Local Labour leaders complain that the area still hasn’t recovered from being disproportionately hit by cuts to policing numbers during the Conservative-led era of austerity.
Cleveland Police covers other areas including Redcar, Hartlepool and Stockton but is one of the smallest in Britain.
It has also been beset by scandal including accusations of corruption and poor performance which came to a head when it was put into special measures in 2019.
Then chief constable Mike Veale stepped down but the force has churned through five leaders since, with the current chief, Victoria Fuller, only taking up the post in August last year.
The force was rated “good” in its most recent inspection but the report acknowledged that Cleveland is still dealing with the highest level of incidents compared to the size of its population in the country.
‘We need the resources’, MP pleads
In the short term, it is hoped the reinforcements being sent into Middlesbrough will help police get a grip on what appears to be a dangerous feud between rival gangs.
The i Paper understands local leaders fear the funerals for the five young men are expected to take place soon and could provide a flashpoint.
But there is also a feeling that this week’s chaos must prove a turning point in the long term.
Middlesbrough and Thornaby East MP Andy McDonald said: “People are saying that they are going to their shops and not feeling safe to do so and feeling trapped in their own homes.”
A police officer leaves flowers at Cleveland Police HQ in Middlesbrough (Photo: Owen Humphreys/PA)“We’ve got to have an appropriate response to deal with the people who are causing such mayhem. That isn’t happening. We need the resources.”
Anna Turley, the MP for neighbouring Redcar and a Home Office minister, has branded continued antisocial behaviour, including the torching of cars at a vigil in Durham on Thursday night, as “unnacceptable”.
In a letter to Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey, she admitted concern at potential “flashpoints” ahead and asked that “very appropriate power available” be used.
She asked police to look at using extra powers to disperse crowds, force them to leave the area and seize illegal bikes and quads.
“Seeing illegal bikes and quad bikes rampaging, and fires and fireworks being set off only heightens people’s sense of fear and lawlessness,” she wrote.
“While I understand people are grieving and upset, we cannot allow illegal activity to be excused and unchecked.”
‘Time to take our streets back’
While Teesside is a traditional Labour stronghold, the pain of deindustrialisation and entrenched poverty has left people angry with the political establishment.
Ben Houchen has been elected three times as mayor of Tees Valley running more as a populist than a Conservative, while the area has a healthy contingent of independents.
“We have totally failed,” said the Middlesbrough councillor, in a blunt assessment of all political leaders.
“When I became a councillor I thought ‘I’m going to change the world’, I thought I would get a special number to call the police.
“But I’m just waiting for someone to answer 101 the same as everyone else.
“It’s disheartening. My son came to see me and said he’s thinking over taking the kids and moving away.
“He said ‘I don’t want to bring children up around this’. I just think ‘how sad’. We need a massive shake-up. It’s time to take our streets back.”
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