1985 Handsworth riots 1500 police officers drafted into the area, about 45 shops looted and burnt, and a trail of damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. As well as racial tension, unemployment was seen as a major factor in the riots; by the time of the riots, fewer than 5% of the black population to have left school that summer had found employment. The riots were the first of a series of similar riots across the country during the autumn of 1985, notably the Broadwater Farm riot in London which also resulted in a fatality (the murder of policeman Keith Blakelock).
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