In many ways it seems as though the police are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, when it comes to the policing of riots. One minute they’re being criticised for utilising tactics that are too harsh – indeed they may even be compared to a Middle Eastern country who are known to deploy a zero tolerance policy when any of their citizens deign to protest over an issue that is close to their heart. Then, following much public attention on the Metropolitan Police Force for pushing over an innocent newspaper seller – leading to a fatal heart attack – the force re-evaluated its handling of riots and came under pressure for being too lenient.
It is fair to say that the English riots were the worst case of disorder to hit the United Kingdom in around 30 years. The last time riots were as serious as this was probably back in Brixton during the 1980’s. Further, many people are blaming the present day prevalence of social media sites for having incited riot action in many other cities across England.
The first riot broke out in the capital following the shooting of a man in Tottenham, North London. At first, this was a peaceful protest, but there was certainly an element of hardcore rioters present that were intent on turning this demonstration into a full-blown riot situation. At this time, the police were most criticised for the fact that there were not significant numbers of riot-trained officers present. News stories showed us how people turned to looting at that time and we saw them walking straight past police officers, with their ill-gotten-gains, and they were completely unchallenged as they did so.
So, following a night where the policing could have best been described as ‘flaccid’ – and that is definitely being kind! – the police monitored Twitter and Facebook and managed to ascertain that more riots were being planned for the following night; moreover, other police forces (e.g. Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Nottinghamshire) all worked out that riots were being planned within their own force areas.
This led to a massive presence of police officers on the streets where riots had been planned and the overall handling of this second night of riots could not have been any more different from the first. Yes, they were on a much more massive scale and the number of rioters taking part increased exponentially from the first night, but all-in-all, a message was being sent out to the general public that the police were capable of handling the situation and were doing their utmost to re-take control of our country’s streets.
Ostensibly, it would appear that the police are starting to learn a vital lesson where the handling of riots are concerned: there needs to be a definite balance where the use of force is concerned. Crucially, all police officers need to remember that all of their actions will be watched by the people of this country and that they are not above the law. They can and will be charged under criminal law if they use too much force against citizens and this has already been seen through recent cases that have been brought before the courts.
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