Apps such as Snapchat and Telegram have become the “preferred” communications for gangs plotting murders and other violence, according to a report by London’s Violent Reduction Unit (VRU) published on Tuesday.
The VRU, which was set up in 2019 by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, commissioned researchers from the Behavioural Insights Team to analyse 50 homicides in the capital.
The researchers found that one in five of the homicides were “gang-related” but they admitted they only included cases “where the homicide appeared to be gang-motivated, rather than simply if there were gang affiliations.”
In four out of the 10 homicides the victim had a gang affiliation, suggesting the others were either attacked as a result of mistaken identity or chosen at random simply believed they lived in the territory of a rival gang….