Hackney Council,
16
May
2022
|
13:30
Europe/London

Council responds to disorder in Dalston over the weekend

Town Hall photo for media releases

Philip Glanville, Mayor of Hackney, and Cllr Susan Fajana-Thomas, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, respond to disorder in Dalston on Saturday evening (14 May): "We strongly condemn the violent scenes that took place, and which many people witnessed, on Saturday evening. Disorder like this is simply unacceptable, and it is clear that both police officers and the community were impacted by it. 

“The Council had no prior knowledge of the police operation that took place. We do now know that it was an attempt to tackle the rising numbers of street robberies and other offences being committed by people on scooters and bikes - but not linked to delivery drivers - in the area. However, over the next few days we will be working with the police to establish to understand what went wrong and how the situation escalated. 

“We welcome the fact the police have referred distressing video footage to their Directorate of Professional Standards, and we expect them to be transparent with us - and the community - of the outcomes of this review.

“The Council has been working closely with the local community, and delivery drivers and their union, in and around Ashwin Street for months in order to try to resolve the recurring issues in the area relating to parking and facilities, and we will be speaking to them to make it clear that we were not involved in this operation nor should we conflate it with our work.

“The Council is committed to rebuilding community trust and confidence in the police, but incidents like the one on Saturday night can undermine that process. We’re determined to help broker better relationships between the police and all our communities.”