Residents hope drug dealer signs will shame police into taking action
RESIDENTS frustrated by “brazen” drug dealing outside their homes have created a series of road signs highlighting crime in an attempt to shame the police into action.
Guerrilla street artists have painted a parking bay marked “drug dealers only” and installed six signs on lampposts after being commissioned by neighbours in Tower Hamlets, east London.
The anonymous group of artists, who call themselves the Columbia Road Cartel, were asked by the Weavers Community Action Group to help underline levels of drug crime around the Columbia Road, near Shoreditch.
The fake street signs, which were put up on Sunday, include “crack pickup point”, “give way to oncoming drug deals” and “needle free zone”.
The artwork was produced in response to an apparent lack of action by police over drug dealing, which is said to take place at all hours of the day. Penny Creed, a local resident who shared the images, tweeted: “Local street artists trying to embarrass the @metpoliceuk and @Towerhamletsnow into doing something about the brazen drug dealing in my neighbourhood #columbiaroad”. Jonathan Moberly, another resident, said: “One corner of our street is used as a drug collection point 24 hours a day. Heroin and crack addicts gather in small groups waiting for deliveries which arrive by speeding car.
“Six months ago, my stepson Jake was a victim of a hit-and-run by one of the dealers. “His ankle was badly smashed and he is still unable to return to work. The authorities seem to be powerless or uninterested.” Another resident, who would not give a name, said: “I have to change the way I walk home from work as there are so many picking up drugs at 7.30pm.” The Weavers Community Action Group, based in Weavers ward in Tower Hamlets, claims to have around 70 members in the area. According to the Evening Standard, the group was formed in April this year in response to “open trading in hard and dangerous drugs” which it claims have become “a normal part of daily life”.
A Tower Hamlets spokesman said: “We understand the frustration of these residents, which is why the council has invested £3 million in additional police officers to make up some of the shortfall in government cuts to the police. We are also working with the police on Operation Continuum, which targets drug dealers and offers support to those affected by it. So far, 160 people have been arrested as the operation works its way around the borough.”
Metropolitan Police crime data indicates the number of arrests in Tower Hamlets dropped since July 2013, with 3,011 arrests between July 2013 and July 2014 compared with 1,842 arrests from July 2017 to July 2018. The Metropolitan Police were approached for comment but had not responded last night.