2011 England riots riots as a role model to be applied to their political activities in Germany as well. The riots were described by one journalist as "the worst disturbances of their kind since the 1995 Brixton riots". Commentators likened the riots to the Broadwater Farm riot of 1985, during which a police officer, Keith Blakelock, was murdered. The disturbances were preceded by calls for better oversight of the Metropolitan Police, repeating observations which go back to the death of Stephen Lawrence and the New Cross Fire. In April 2011 there was a large nonviolent march to Scotland Yard as a result of
Broadwater Farm preceding the riot. In an independent 2003 survey of all the estate's residents, only 2% said they considered the area unsafe, the lowest figure for any area in London. The estate also has the lowest rent arrears of any part of the borough. In 2005 the Metropolitan Police disbanded the Broadwater Farm Unit altogether as it was no longer required in an area with such a low crime rate. Bruce Castle, once the home of Rowland Hill, inventor of the postage stamp, is on the north side of Lordship Lane immediately opposite Broadwater Farm. It was built by William Compton