Our UK Correspondent: Riots in London-A Bird’s Eye View
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Rioting blacks destroy own homes and businesses in London riots
Somebody said recently that the British have always been noted for rioting. But that was before everybody had the right to vote, and rioting was the only way to make their voices heard. But with universal suffrage rioting stopped – until now. We have recently seen some rioting, mostly on the back of genuine protest marches which are completely within the law.
But what has been taking place in London this last few days is unprecedented. It has been mainly Afro-Caribbeans [British blacks] but it must be said that there were white people involved as well. Afro-Caribbeans have a history of rioting in Britain but until now they have been based on accusations of racism – somebody was arrested and there was a riot. But the current riots are not about racism or attacks against the government – they are nothing but criminal looting and burning. They started on the back of a peaceful demonstration by the family of a man brandishing a gun who was shot dead by police. Generally during rioting the liberal left always claim that the government are to blame for its oppressive policies, but there have been no similar comments this time.
The rioters have been attacking and looting not the major retail chains but the small shops of their local communities. Pictures have appeared on television showing a young woman standing in the rubble of her shop; another showed an elderly man standing in his shop with not one item left on his shelves: it was impossible to discover what he used to sell.
Hundreds of local residents have had their homes destroyed by fire. The pictures show fires burning out of control because firefighters have not been able to get to them. It looked like the fires in London during the blitz in World War Two. And there has of course been the usual sight of cars, police cars and buses torched.
The police have been unable to cope because the rioters have been using Twitter to organise themselves. But apart from that they are perceived to have been standing back while all this was going on. I have seen a group of riot police standing watching youths trashing a rubbish bin and dumping it in the road. The least they should have done was to force them to put it back to where it belonged. That lack of action just makes the police a laughing stock. They have certainly lost the will to rush in at the first sign of disorder and stop it in its tracks. This may be partly due to their being accused of racism every time they take action against a member of an ethnic minority. They have the power to stop and search people they suspect of carrying drugs, knives, guns. But Afro-Caribbeans claim that they are being targeted – but in their local community what else can be expected? The police are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
The police say that they cannot arrest people on site because arrest and evidence regulations mean that the arresting officer would have to return to the station and fill in a multitude of forms. In the past they had vans on standby into which arrested people were bundled to be dealt with later. It seems that they rely on CCTV footage to identify suspects. So what is the point of being at the scene of crime if they cannot do anything?
There are now the usual discussions in government about what to do in future. Policing in Britain has always been “policing by consent” which means that the police are seen as friends of the community and not as enemies. But that has changed because police are no longer seen walking the streets and have acquired a bad name in enforcing speeding regulations. The Home Secretary, who is in charge of policing, has ruled out the use of water cannons which are used in France as that would not be the British way, but she has been overruled by the Prime Minister.
Last night the Metropolitan police force borrowed men from other forces and had 16,000 available instead of the usual 3,000, so London was quiet. A battalion of infantry has also been put on standby. But the contagion has spread to other major cities and even small county towns. It will eventually subside but it does not leave a good impression for next year’s Olympic Games.
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The police say that they cannot arrest people on site because arrest and evidence regulations mean that the arresting officer would have to return to the station and fill in a multitude of forms.
I have heard this before, it’s a pretty poor excuse for not making an arrest if one needs to be made. The quality of the Met. has gone down, they only seem to get tough with peaceful protestors.
There are too many regulations in Britain nowadays. The European Union regulations stifle free thought and action, and Labour governments are notorious for making numerous laws when in power, and we had just had thirteen years of them.
Many ex police officers have been writing to the papers criticising police tactics.
If I were a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, now I’d say “Kowubanga, dude!”
That is one of the most ridiculous excuses I have ever heard for not making an arrest. The fact is the paperwork is part of it. You make the arrest and you write a report so you can explain why you did what you did. That only makes sense. Paperwork and police work is a necessary evil.
I agree with what you say Mike but Britain is now hidebound by regulations. It is constantly said that the police spend more time in the office filling in forms than out on the beat. Teachers have stopped taking pupils on adventure trips because they have to make risk assessments and fill in forms; if they don’t do so and an accident happens they can be charged with negligence.
Anybody dealing with children has to have clearance from a public authority, which is fair enough. But one local authority has instructed its taxi drivers that they are not allowed to take as passengers an adult accompanying a child unless that adult has clearance. The result was that a mother was refuesd a ride with her disabled son.
And it goes on and on. In short, Britain is a mess.