09/01/2014 BBC London News

George. Thank you. That's all so it's goodbye from me and on BBC One

reports. First fat, then sold 8 reports. First fat, then sold, now

we join the BBC's news teams where you are.

Tonight on BBC London... We hear from the man responsible for

rebuilding relations in the borough where Mark Duggan was shot by

police. There has been a legacy, a history of mistrust between the

community and the police, and the inquest into Mark Duggan has added

to that mistrust and misunderstanding.

The Prime Minister tells BBC London there's still work to do to ensure

the police has the confidence of every community in the capital. Also

tonight... I have been proud to serve at Clerkenwell. God bless you

all. The end of an era ` ten fire stations close for good, the

casualties of spending cuts. Plus...as rising waters continue to

wreak havoc, we look at the flood`proof home of the future.

Excuse me, is that your car? And we're live on the red carpet with

Leonardo Di Caprio, for the premier of the BAFTA`nominated film Wolf Of

Wall Street. Good evening. The man responsible

for policing in the borough where Mark Duggan was shot dead today

vowed to rebuild trust between all sections of the community. There's

been anger after an inquest jury concluded yesterday that the

29`year`old from Tottenham had been killed lawfully. So community

leaders met senior officers at Scotland Yard earlier ` including

the Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan`Howe ` as friends of the

Duggan family announced a peaceful vigil would be held this weekend.

Our Home Affairs correspondent, Guy Smith, looks at the source of the

anger. His report does contain some flash photography. On the beat with

the borough commander of Haringey, just ten months in post, and he has

a lot of work to do. It is almost an impossible task, isn't it, to

rebuild trust here? It is difficult. It is difficult because there has

been a legacy, a history of mistrust between the community and the

police, and the inquest into the shooting of Mark Duggan has added to

that mistrust and misunderstanding. And that tension was not hard to

find on the streets of Tottenham this afternoon am just 24 hours

after an inquest jury concluded that Mark Duggan was lawfully killed. Are

we saying that the police, we, shot Mark Duggan because he was black, or

because we think he was committing an offence? I think that is how a

lot of people see it down here in Tottenham. Because, if I have got a

gun, for example, and the police is right here, telling me to put the

gun down, and I am raising the gun at them, and they shot me, a lot of

people will say. But if I have got a gun, and I threw the gun down there,

and they still shot me... Well, let's look at some of the evidence.

According to the officer who fired the fatal shot, Mark Duggan got out

of the taxi and turned towards the officer. He told the jury...

Yet the jury believed something very difficult `` very different. When

asked whether Mark Duggan had a gun on him at the time he was shot,

eight out of ten jurors stated that they were sure he did not have a gun

in his hand. And yet none of the witnesses saw

the gun being thrown. It has led to a lot of confusion, particularly

from Mark Duggan's family, only last night, furious at the jury's

decision. Back at the spot where this controversy all began, the

place where the young man was shot dead by armed police. And you

understand the anger in the community college I can understand

the confusion and I can understand how that confusion leads to anger in

some people's minds, because some people were expecting a particular

verdict that they have not got averdict that they have not got just

I fully understand that. But we need to get ourselves into a position

where jury got to that decision. And we need to respect the jury's

decision, and respect that they have reached that decision in a sensible,

logical, rational way. Well, we were hoping to speak to the Mayor of

London or his deputy, who are responsible for policing, but

neither was available tonight. But the Prime Minister, David Cameron,

spoke to Vanessa Feltz on our radio station, BBC London 94.9, where he

praised the attitude of the Duggan family in light of yesterday's

decision. Very much respect Mark Duggan's

aren't for saying they wanted to pursue the case in the courts rather

than on the streets. I think that is absolutely right. I have huge

respect for Bernard Hogan`Howe, who I know is ready to meet with the

family, if they would like, and recognises how much more important

work we still have to do to make sure the police have the confidence

of every community in London. The outcome of the inquest has split

Londoners, with some critical of the police and the verdict of lawful

killing. While others have been defending the unpredictable job

armed, front line officers face daily. Alice Bhandhukravi has spent

the day in north London speaking to people about events over the past 24

hours, and she joins us now from Tottenham. Alice... You're right, I

have spent the day trying to gauge reaction to yesterday's verdict, and

I must say, it has been incredibly difficult to get people to speak on

camera, such is the nervousness here about inflaming tensions.

Off`camera, some people said to me that the jury made the right

decision, that the jury's word is final, and that the police do do a

very difficult job. Others, though, expressed the definite sense of

dissatisfaction with the police and deep cynicism about their action.

Some people said that there had been too many killings by police, and

that when those killings happened, the police seemed to be never at

fault. A couple of people did raise their head above the parapet to

speak to us on camera, above the record today, one of them a young

film`maker who has made a film about the death of Mark Duggan and the

Tottenham riots, and he expressed very clearly the feeling amongst

some towards the police now. Can the police be trusted? I would say right

now at this moment in time, trust is earned, and they have not earned a

lot of trust. The board is in their court, and we will see how things go

from here, but this is a big milestone. A lot of people are very,

very unhappy. So, clearly, some work to be done to rebuild that trust,

but the overwhelming feeling I got I speaking to people here today was

that people, more than anything, wanted to keep the peace and avoid

reprisals. It is not fair to make everybody in this area suffer

because of what the Metropolitan Police did, or what Mark Duggan did,

or what he didn't do, or what they didn't do. Take it to a higher

level, get it away from the streets and the children of Tottenham,

because they are our future, and what example are these people

showing now? Alice, tell us more about the vigil planned in Tottenham

for this weekend. That's right. Today, the family of Mark Duggan met

with the parson who presided over Mark Duggan's funeral, and they

announced that they will be having a vigil here, outside the police they

shoot in Tottenham, on Saturday afternoon. The watchwords for that

vigil are peace and respect. Above all, the family of Mark Duggan have

called for peace and respect at that vigil on Saturday afternoon.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has tonight urged people to accept

the jury's decision, but he acknowledged that there were things

the Metropolitan Police should have done better, immediately after Mark

Duggan's death. After the shooting, no organisation spoke to the family.

They should have done. There are reasons that everybody can give, but

that does not really explain, we should have kept trying to talk to

Mark 's mum and the rest of the family. That did not happen, that

was a failure. Secondly, when there was a vigil held at the police

station, there was not someone senior enough there for the family

to talk to. For more could have been done to communicate them. But it is

equally important that we have to acknowledge that people, having

looked at this case, think that the police, in difficult

circumstances... These firearms officers who something you and I

don't, they take a gun, take the risk of being shot at, and then, in

a split second, they have to decide whether to shoot someone else. A

terrible responsibility. And then that is forensic reanalysed over a

period of years. A great challenge for everyone involved, a very

difficult job nation, but in this case the jury decided it was a

lawful killing, though not anything that anyone celebrates.

Joining me now is Claudia Webbe, who helped set up Operation Trident at

Scotland Yard, which targets gun crime in the black community. She's

also the former chair of Trident's Independent Advisory Group. Thanks

for joining us. We see the reaction to yesterday's verdict is very

mixed. How would you describe the temperatures in the area? I would

think that right about now, the relationship in particular between

the police and in particular the black community, and the community

generally, but I think that in particular, a significant minority

of the community, that that relationship is now at an all`time

low. The police have got a lot of work to do in terms of building

trust and confidence. It was always going to be a controversial

outcome, the shooting dead of a black man in this part of London, in

top, " a farm, with the history of deaths in custody, the history of

stop and search, and the history of bad relationships between the police

and the community. You mentioned some very important points there,

the history of the area, evidence being low, so how do the police

build confidence? It is going to be a long and tough and challenging

agenda for the police. They have really got to do a lot of work to

build the notion of policing by consent. Without that, really,

policing does not mean much at all. The inquest jury effectively said

that Mark Duggan was lawfully killed, he was unarmed yet lawfully

killed. Where do you go with that? It is such a perplexing outcome, and

the police have got a lot of work to do to answer questions in the first

place, before they can begin to have a knee jerk reaction, to want to

speak to huge numbers of people. At the end of the day, they have got a

lot to answer for, to have the public have confidence in them. One

of those questions which we keep hearing is issues to do with people

think that that had something to do with the shooting. Do you think that

had something to do with the shooting? Would he have been shocked

if he was white? At the end of the day, it is about perception. The

reality is, there have been too many deaths in custody, and too many

disproportionate deaths in custody that involve black men in

particular. It is almost as though, and the community often read it in

terms of how people say it on the ground, in that it is almost as

though police believe the myth of the superhuman powers of the black

man, that they require there for a particular level of force which is

beyond what is reasonable. Unless the police can overcome this

perception, the police use of force, and they have that power to use

force, and it is how they use it and it is when they use it, and when it

came to Mark Duggan, it seems they used to maximum force. The reality

is, that feeds into the collective memory of people's understanding of

deaths in custody. There is a disproportionate number of black men

in particular dying in custody, and there is a particular level of

disproportionate activity when it comes to police ` community

relations. Stay with us as there's a lot more to come before seven,

including... Find out how Londoners have helped

keep this service running for 25 years. And it is the UK premiere for

The Wolf Of Wall Street, already up for four BAFTAs. I will be speaking

to Leonardo DiCaprio later in the programme.

There were tears running down the faces of some of London's

firefighters today as the country's oldest fire station closed its doors

for the last time. Clerkenwell Fire Station opened in the 1870s and

survived two World Wars but is now shutting as part of the Mayor's

budget cuts. Our political correspondent, Karl Mercer, has this

report. Hugs from the commander and the end

of 140 years of firefighting. Clerkenwell, like nine other

stations, closed its doors for good at 9:30am. Thank you for coming, we

appreciate it. This is a last day of Clerkenwell. I have been here 29

years, the longest serving firefighter at the station and this

is a sad day. I have been proud to serve at Clerkenwell, God bless you

and borrows, you don't know what you are doing. As well as the fire

stations closing, 14 engines have been cut and more than 500

firefighter posts will go. It is a travesty, London needs places like

this. The cuts are doing nothing for London. It is also the Heritage. We

were the fourth busiest in London. That speaks for itself. Your fire

station is being cut as part of the Mayor's plans to save money for his

budget. The changes are being made as part of it budget cut ordered by

City Hall. They have survived legal challenges and Clerkenwell will now

be sold off. I genuinely feel they are putting my constituents at risk.

I feel emotional, I am really upset and yes, I am slightly tearful. I

not supposed to be like this! But I really feel strongly, I am so angry.

The necessity, like all public services, means the Fire Brigade has

to find a way of doing what it does for a little bit less money. But the

opportunity is the fact that through the proactive work of the Fire

Brigade firefighters, we have driven down the risk in London considerably

so we can make savings and changes and simultaneously keeping London

safe. From today it is a job to be done with fewer resources. A man has

been arrested on suspicion of attended murder acrid black BMW hit

a officer in Peckham. It happened at 4:30pm this afternoon after the

driver Grove off in order to stop by police. He collided with the nub of

cards on St Mary's Road and the officer suffered injuries to his

leg. More now on the floods and tonight 28 warnings remain in place

along a stretch of the Thames from Reading through to Teddington.

There's hope that the floodwaters will recede with drier weather

forecast. But for many homeowners along the river, the clear`up is yet

to begin. Gareth Furby has spent the day in some of the communities worst

affected. Marlow, where luxury properties have been flooded. And

where what was an activity centre for children cannot only be reached

by boat. We are looking at the moment at somewhere in the region of

?25,000 worth of damage initially, and the water continues to come up,

that could stretch to ?200,000. And then Mark Campbell, a powerboat

instructor, took us onto the Thames to witness its power. And to see how

some riverside properties can be so vulnerable. It may be hard to

believe but underneath the water here are the foundations of their

house which, had it been built, which simply have floated on top of

all of this. At the moment architect Robert Harker can only show was a

model but he has no doubt his floating house will work. You can

actually see that the building is an independent building and it is held

on these guideposts around the side to allow it to get up and down with

the water levels. But some riverside homes are simply build high enough.

Howard's mansion might be surrounded by water but inside it is bone dry.

It has got to go another three feet to penetrate the house and if that

happens, the whole of it will be underwater. So we are feeling

fortunate. Mark Campbell is relying on a network of pumps to save what

can be saved. And helping that the river does not rise any more. This

time we have attempted to cut holes in the floor and we have got pumps

in here and in the other room and we are pumping water just to keep the

height lower than the water trying to come in. But it is the river and

the weather in charge here. And this afternoon, fire crews rescued a

woman from a house in Sunbury`on`Thames. 25 years ago

today, London's Air Ambulance took to the skies with the sole purpose

of saving lives. To date it's saved thousands, helped by its ability to

land virtually anywhere in the capital in just 15 minutes. But

unlike Paris, New York and Sydney, which have at least four Air

Ambulances each, we have just one. Tarah Welsh has been up with the

team over London. It's the second call of the day. An elderly man has

fallen in South London and has serious head injuries. This team of

a doctor and paramedic will be able to get to him in minutes. The

problems is not just a very patients to hospitals but they can get

medical staff to the scene quickly. The helicopter can get anywhere

along the M25 in less than 25 minutes. The idea of the service is

to bring the A to the street. Helping the most critical patients.

There are quite a few events we have been involved in that have been

highly significant for Londoners, going back to the Cannon Street rail

disaster, Paddington, and the bombings of 7/7, where the

organisation put out somewhere in the region of 29 doctors and

paramedics. The helipad is on the left. But between those disasters,

every day is filled with a trauma somewhere. Angela Barlow was hit by

a car when she was 11. I suffered brain injuries and a blood clot and

broken leg in two places and a fractured skull. And 100%, I would

not be here today if it was not for the air and villains. `` for the Air

Ambulance. 5,000 calls come through to the Ambulance Service every day,

so how do they know when a specialist trauma team is needed?

Some of it is gut instinct and some is more obvious, people will tell

you the reservations trapped under a car and that is obviously something

that will need the assistance of doctors. This is the night shift. In

other patients might not even realise what the Air Ambulance is

and night`time we run from a car, it is not practical to have aircraft

landing in London at night with wires. Medical staff are funded by

the NHS, everything else comes from donations. And they want to raise

money for a second helicopter to get to even more patients. The service

only deals with serious drama, serious injury, and that is the

guest killer of people under 45 and we often talk about the critical

urgency of that first golden hour, so getting people treated by the

medical crew by helicopter is simply the most effective way to deliver

paramedics to the scene. It's difficult to measure how many lives

have been saved by the charity, but it's obvious, Londoners have a

better chance of survival with this in their sky. What an amazing job!

Nominated for four BAFTAs earlier this week, Wolf of Wall Street,

starring Leonardo Di Caprio, has its UK premier tonight in Leicester

Square. It's the true story of a stockbroker who made a fortune by

defrauding investors out of millions of dollars. Brenda Emmanus is on the

red carpet for us. `` Lisle resemble hot up with the lead actor if you

moment ago. It is a true life story and playing him in the movie is

Leonardo Di Caprio. Congratulations on your nomination this week, you

also have the Golden globes. You must be hopeful for the Oscars? The

truth is, this is a very difficult film to get financed so that is

reward enough. You work as hard as you possibly can on these films and

you hope that people will receive it well. Sorry, this is distracting!

But this is a film that was very dear to my heart. This and the

aviator took eight years to get off the ground and to develop for a long

period. And I am helpful `` grateful we got the opportunity. It is a

Compaq 's character, was a done thing? I think he is really a

reflection of our culture. After 2008, this rampant attitude where

people have only been concerned with themselves and completely

disregarded of anybody else and I wanted to put this person on`screen,

he represented somebody in our culture that is very. This film in a

lot of ways focuses on Jordan's life but he represents something that is

much bigger, I think. It is a film of access, the language and the sex

and drugs. Was a danger that it might glamorise this behaviour? The

truth is, we knew if we did not submerge the audience in this world

and talk about the darker nature of this world, that meant being

authentic about our portrayal and we were ultimately going to have this

film doing a disservice. We wanted people to understand what this

lifestyle was like and how people can get so easily tempted by power

and greed. And briefly, what was it like working with Martin Scorcese?

Every time I get the opportunity, he pushes the boundaries and I learned

so much about cinema as an artform and the importance of why we do what

we do. I am in credibly lucky to be able to work with him and I can only

hope to do that somewhat. Thank you for your time. That was Leonardo Di

Caprio. I don't get a chance to say that very often!

I also have some good news. The might be some sunshine. This swathe

of clear weather on the satellite and that sets the story for the

coming days. It will be quite a bit quieter and drier although we have

rain to come tomorrow evening and again, as we start the working week.

But it will also be colder and in the last couple of weeks, we have

not seen temperatures below double figures, only once in 11 days. But

we shall see colder weather tonight because we have high pressure

building across the South, keeping us settled and any lingering showers

are clearing towards the South and largely dying away. We have clear

skies and temperatures will fall away. Four Celsius in the Tyne and

colder the countryside and because of that standing water, the Met

Office is concerned about ice. We have a weather warning in force

across London. So, a chilly but right start tomorrow morning and it

shall feel quite cold. The wind will change direction through the morning

and that means we shall see some showers skirting towards us and

mainly across central London through the afternoon. Nothing significant

in these, they are a precursor to more rain heading tomorrow evening

and temperatures just about getting into double figures but we shall

move down a notch on this temperatures. This rain band is

coming in, largely dying away as it clears across London, but towards

Saturday morning it will be another chilly start. And we have pressure

building across the UK through Saturday and that means it will be

nice and settled for much of the weekend. Other we will have rain

later into Sunday. Thank you very much.

Before we go, let's remind ourselves of tonight's main news headlines:

The head of the Metropolitan Police has acknowledged that there needs to

be an improvement in relations with the black community. It follows

yesterday's inquest verdict which concluded that Mark Duggan was

lawfully killed by an armed officer. Some of Britain's retailers have

recorded a drop in sales over the Christmas period. Marks and Spencer

and Tesco fell 2% while Morrisons dropped by more than 5%. Insurers

are preparing to pay out tens of millions of pounds to people flooded

during the winter storms. More than 2,000 properties have been damaged

and in some areas the clean`up operation hasn't yet begun. The

country 's oldest fire station has closed its doors for the last time.

Clerkenwell Fire Station has fallen victim to the Mayor 's proposed cuts

to the service. That's it. I'll be back later during the 10pm news. But

for now, on behalf of the BBC London team, I hope you have a very good

evening. Goodbye. TOM: # And if there's

anybody left in here # That doesn't want

to be out there... #