Death of Keith Blakelock Death of Keith Blakelock Keith Henry Blakelock was a London Metropolitan Police constable who was murdered on 6 October 1985 during rioting at the Broadwater Farm housing estate in Tottenham, north London. The trouble broke out after a local black woman died of heart failure during a police search of her home, and took place against a backdrop of unrest in several English cities and a breakdown of relations between the police and black communities. PC Blakelock had been assigned on the night of his death to Serial 502, a unit of 11 constables and one sergeant dispatched to protect
Death of Keith Blakelock and equipment in a timely manner. To ensure that such a situation was never repeated, a new "gold–silver–bronze command structure" (strategic–tactical–operational) was created in 1985 that replaced ranks with roles. It is used by all British emergency services at every type of major incident. Comparisons were made to the 1985 Broadwater Farm Riot when rioting broke out again in Tottenham in August 2011. After police shot and killed a man, Mark Duggan, believing that he was armed, around 120 people marched from Broadwater Farm to the local police station, echoing the protests that preceded the rioting on 6 October 1985.