Letter regarding social media trend promoting violence amongst school children & Recent International incidents - sent on behalf of Superintendent Zubin Writer

Dear Harrow residents,

I want to speak with you directly today regarding concerns that I know many across Harrow are currently feeling.

The international events that have taken place within the last twenty four hours have prompted real anxiety within our communities, particularly among families and faith groups connected to the regions affected. These developments have been distressing and unsettling, and I want to acknowledge the impact that they are already having across our borough. I fully understand how deeply such global events can affect our residents and the sense of uncertainty they can create.

This morning, I chaired an emergency strategy implementation meeting with my senior leadership team to review our operational and tactical response.

Our objective is to ensure that we take strong, visible and proactive steps to protect and reassure the residents of Harrow. As a result of this work, I have directed enhanced high visibility policing patrols around faith venues and other key community locations where residents regularly gather. These deployments are designed to provide reassurance, support and the capability to rapidly deploy officers should the need arise.

I have spoken personally with Faith Leaders across Harrow today to discuss community concerns and offer direct reassurance. We are monitoring both the international situation and the local picture closely each day, and we will continue to adjust our resources and patrols as required. My commitment remains to ensure that the police presence across our borough reflects the seriousness with which we take your safety and wellbeing.

As many of you will know, over the last week, an extremely worrying social media trend highlighted on TikTok, known as “Red vs Blue”, has emerged nationally and locally here in Harrow. This trend has been commonly described as dividing schools across Harrow into opposing groups, with several online posts encouraging children to carry weapons, commit acts of violence and to then record and upload these incidents online for points. I absolutely recognise the alarm this has caused among parents, carers, schools and young people.

In response, we have taken swift, decisive steps to address this issue. My officers have been directed to visit all our schools daily and have been busy conducting high visibility patrols and deployments in surrounding areas, speaking with pupils, teachers and parents, ensuring the safety of our students and young people across the borough. To support this activity and ensure we can meet all our conflicting policing demands, I have drafted in additional officers from across the North West Command Unit to assist my teams and shall continue to do so over the coming week.

My senior leadership team and I have personally visited many of our secondary schools and met with head teachers across Harrow this week to offer reassurance and ensure that we are doing everything we can to ensure every young person in our borough remains safe.

The MPS is actively monitoring online activity connected to this trend and working with social media platforms to request the disabling of accounts that promote threats or violence. My Specialist Community Liaison Sergeants continue to be in regular contact with schools across Harrow, sharing updates, providing guidance and supporting their safeguarding efforts.

Please may I request that you take a moment to speak with your children about staying safe, making calm and responsible decisions and reporting any worries to a trusted adult.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners across the borough for their invaluable, unwavering support; all the teachers and support staff in every Harrow school and educational establishment, the numerous charities working with our young people, particularly the Young Harrow Foundation, our Faith Leaders, our IAG and our strong partners within the Local Authority.

I feel incredibly privileged and proud to lead a team of officers who are as highly committed and dedicated to ensuring the safety, confidence and trust of our entire community here in Harrow. You have my strongest assurance that my officers are working around the clock to maintain the safety, unity and confidence of our borough and the residents we protect and serve.

If you require further reassurance or wish to speak with us directly, please do not hesitate to contact my teams.

Yours,

Zubin

Superintendent Zubin Writer
Local Policing Lead for the London Borough of Harrow