Difficult to read, even this far removed from the riots. Very moving, very informative.
August 11, 2011: Police tell of life on the frontline during riots: fatigue and hunger under hail of missiles. Public support for officers on the frontline has helped keep up morale amid chaos, frustration and 20-hour shifts
Sunday, January 29, 2012
More headlines ripped from the pages of Google News. The quote from eGov monitor about Cameron saying that the Met's senior officers were wrong to treat the riots as public disorder instead of criminality set off a predictable uproar at the Met was somewhat unfair if the Met and the vacationing Cameron could only have communicated with each other via carrier pigeon.
However, Cameron and the Met knew within the first hours of the riots that the incidents couldn't be controlled by the 'softly softly' domestic policy of the British government and should have switched gears. This fact brought forth a diatribes from a worker in the financial sector who wrote for the Market Oracle. I think he might have connected too many dots and flung around too many accusations but his fury was justified. See here and here for his op-eds.
However, for Cameron to up-end decades of policy and order an adequate police response, he would need the political winds at his back. And for the Met to go ahead on its own initiative to order the police would have required having someone at the top at the Met with the political clout to make the order stick. (If I recall the top post was vacant at the time the riots broke out, but I'd go back and check to be sure.)
And yet the problem the Met and Cameron initially faced was circular: if the police had cracked down at the start, the riots would have been quickly contained, leading to the accusation of unnecessary police force! Even with the relatively mild police crackdown, there were such accusations. See the headline from the Socialist Worker, below. The problem shouldn't have been such that it froze the Met and Cameron, but there's nothing like Monday-morning quarterbacking.
Financial Times - Elizabeth Rigby, Jim Pickard - 45 minutes ago
The army might also be called on for support if riots occur again. Police tactics were revisited many times in the debate as politicians voiced anger that innocent
UK riots: four days of chaos that reshaped the political landscape
The Guardian - 45 minutes ago
'This is not about poverty, this is about culture,' David Cameron told parliament. 'In too many cases, the parents of these children – if they are still around – don't care where their children are or who they are with, let alone what they are doing. ...
Rioters could be sprayed with dye says David Cameron
Mirror.co.uk - 5 hours ago
By Mirror.co.uk 11/08/2011 David Cameron has not ruled out allowing police to spray rioters with dye so they can be identified and arrested later. The controversial tactic has been used in other countries, most famously by the apartheid regime in South ...
UK riots: text of David Cameron's address to Commons
Telegraph.co.uk - 9 hours ago
And, as I said yesterday, while they would not be appropriate now, we do have in place contingency plans for water cannon to be available at 24 hours notice. Some people have raised the issue of the Army. The Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan ...
Nations Mocking Britain Over Riots
Mathaba.Net - 9 hours ago
Libya's Foreign Minister, the Assistant Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, said that British Prime Minister Cameron had lost all legitimacy and should step down, because of the force used ...
Cameron uses riots as excuse to crack down
Socialistworker.co.uk - Tom Walker - 8 hours ago
And another Tory, Conor Burns, called on Cameron to “scrap the Human Rights Act”. Tory father of the house Sir Peter Tapsell even called for Cameron to round up “hoods” and put them in Wembley stadium. Syrian dictator Bashar Assad used this tactic ...
UK Riots: PM Announces £30 Million To Rebuild Communities And Raft Of New ...
eGov monitor - 5 hours ago
In addition, the Prime Minister said senior officers were wrong in treating the looting as public disorder when it should have been treated as criminal acts. However, the Prime Minister was effusive in his praise of the brave work done by police ...
However, Cameron and the Met knew within the first hours of the riots that the incidents couldn't be controlled by the 'softly softly' domestic policy of the British government and should have switched gears. This fact brought forth a diatribes from a worker in the financial sector who wrote for the Market Oracle. I think he might have connected too many dots and flung around too many accusations but his fury was justified. See here and here for his op-eds.
However, for Cameron to up-end decades of policy and order an adequate police response, he would need the political winds at his back. And for the Met to go ahead on its own initiative to order the police would have required having someone at the top at the Met with the political clout to make the order stick. (If I recall the top post was vacant at the time the riots broke out, but I'd go back and check to be sure.)
And yet the problem the Met and Cameron initially faced was circular: if the police had cracked down at the start, the riots would have been quickly contained, leading to the accusation of unnecessary police force! Even with the relatively mild police crackdown, there were such accusations. See the headline from the Socialist Worker, below. The problem shouldn't have been such that it froze the Met and Cameron, but there's nothing like Monday-morning quarterbacking.
Financial Times - Elizabeth Rigby, Jim Pickard - 45 minutes ago
The army might also be called on for support if riots occur again. Police tactics were revisited many times in the debate as politicians voiced anger that innocent
UK riots: four days of chaos that reshaped the political landscape
The Guardian - 45 minutes ago
'This is not about poverty, this is about culture,' David Cameron told parliament. 'In too many cases, the parents of these children – if they are still around – don't care where their children are or who they are with, let alone what they are doing. ...
Rioters could be sprayed with dye says David Cameron
Mirror.co.uk - 5 hours ago
By Mirror.co.uk 11/08/2011 David Cameron has not ruled out allowing police to spray rioters with dye so they can be identified and arrested later. The controversial tactic has been used in other countries, most famously by the apartheid regime in South ...
UK riots: text of David Cameron's address to Commons
Telegraph.co.uk - 9 hours ago
And, as I said yesterday, while they would not be appropriate now, we do have in place contingency plans for water cannon to be available at 24 hours notice. Some people have raised the issue of the Army. The Acting Commissioner of the Metropolitan ...
Nations Mocking Britain Over Riots
Mathaba.Net - 9 hours ago
Libya's Foreign Minister, the Assistant Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, said that British Prime Minister Cameron had lost all legitimacy and should step down, because of the force used ...
Cameron uses riots as excuse to crack down
Socialistworker.co.uk - Tom Walker - 8 hours ago
And another Tory, Conor Burns, called on Cameron to “scrap the Human Rights Act”. Tory father of the house Sir Peter Tapsell even called for Cameron to round up “hoods” and put them in Wembley stadium. Syrian dictator Bashar Assad used this tactic ...
UK Riots: PM Announces £30 Million To Rebuild Communities And Raft Of New ...
eGov monitor - 5 hours ago
In addition, the Prime Minister said senior officers were wrong in treating the looting as public disorder when it should have been treated as criminal acts. However, the Prime Minister was effusive in his praise of the brave work done by police ...
England Riots, August 10 developments
Two men have been sentenced to 10 weeks and 16 weeks for their part in last night's disorder in Manchester, Greater Manchester Police reports. The force tweets: "Swift justice," adding they will be the "first of many".From the Telegraph's coverage of the riots:
London and UK riots: August 10 as it happened
"Rolling coverage of the riots as police braced to counter further disturbances in cities across the country after the first suspected looters appear in court."
Counterwarm in England Riots: Bad title, good report in this CNN article
Note CNN's use of the term 'vigiliante' instead of the more accurate one of citizen patrol.
August 11, 2011:
August 11, 2011:
Vigilante groups protect London streets
By Bryony Jones,
CNN
London (CNN) -- As riots broke out across London, leaving shops and homes burning, and residents cowering in their homes, Elif Mills returned to her flat in the east of the city to find a burned out bus around the corner, and a mob of burly men in the street outside.
But rather than looting, this gang was working to protect the neighborhood. And far from mugging Mills, the men handed her a free kebab, walked her to her front door and promised to keep her and her terrified neighbors safe as trouble raged in streets nearby.
What Mills calls her "Turkish Army" -- dozens of shopkeepers guarding Kingsland High Street in Dalston -- was just one of many groups of vigilantes armed with makeshift weapons determined to protect their areas of London from looters.
After several nights of violence in towns and cities across England, the public backlash against the rioters has begun.
Hundreds of men wielding golf clubs, baseball bats and sticks have been patrolling areas of London -- from Southall in the west to Dalston in the east, and from Eltham in the south Enfield in the north -- and other cities to ward off gangs of rioters.
Online retailer Amazon has reported a massive spike in the sales of baseball bats and batons as Britons prepare to protect themselves.
TV producer Mills is full of praise for the groups, who she says are doing their bit to help -- at a time when police have found themselves stretched to the limit.
British PM: Police waited too long to act
"They aren't doing it in a 'looking for trouble' way -- they are protecting us, and it has worked -- roads nearby have been destroyed, but this area is completely untouched.
"It's not the best thing for everyone to do, but it has worked in this situation.
"It has made me feel very safe, especially on the night when there wasn't a big police presence in the area -- I slept soundly knowing I had a 'Turkish Army' of burly guys armed with bats standing guard under my window."
In Ealing, an affluent west London suburb which was hit hard by rampaging gangs of youths on Monday evening, locals have been encouraged to come out in defiance of the rioters.
Flyers posted through the doors of homes in the area on Tuesday implored residents to "stand together to protect our streets."
"If you see any trouble, please sound your car horn," they demanded. "The aim of this is to show these despicable thugs that we will not be terrorized."
And in Enfield, which was badly affected on Saturday, the first night of the riots, residents were also out trying to reclaim the area from looters.
One local, who gave his name as Nick, told CNN: "We're out here looking after our town. We're all trying to do it, and yet the police are more interested in pushing us back -- it's not on. We want to look after our town."
As anger at the actions of looters grows, a jazz-singing grandmother from east London has become an unlikely symbol of the public's desire to stand up and be counted.
Pauline Pearce has been dubbed the heroine of Hackney after a video of her giving the young rioters around her a stern dressing-down went viral after being posted on YouTube.
"Why are you burning people's shops that they've worked hard to build up?" She demands of those rampaging around her.
"And for what? Just to say you are warring and a bad man? This is about a man who was shot in Tottenham, this ain't about busting up the place. Get real people!
"We're not all gathering together to fight for a cause -- we're running down footlocker and thieving shoes. Dirty thieves!"
But the Metropolitan Police has warned against vigilantism, calling on members of the public not to put themselves in harm's way, after several incidents where those who tried to step in found themselves under attack from the looters.
In Ealing, a man was left with critical head injuries after he tried to remonstrate with a gang of young rioters who had set bins on fire, and was attacked.
"These are testing times and I urge the public to remain vigilant and report any information you have to police," said Ealing Borough Commander Andy Rowell.
"If you do experience further disorder, I urge you to contact police and not take steps to try and intervene yourselves, this will put you and others in danger - please allow the police to tackle these crimes."
Instead they have urged people to help identify those responsible for the riots and looting.
The Metropolitan Police's Flickr stream of CCTV images of the rioters had been viewed by more than 300,000 people by Wednesday afternoon.
Metropolitan Police Flickr stream
The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling tabloid newspaper, caught the mood of many on Wednesday with its "Shop a moron" campaign, encouraging readers to name and shame those caught looting on security cameras.
And others have taken a practical stand, rolling up their sleeves to join in clean-up operations across London and in Birmingham and Manchester.
Organized via Twitter, using the hashtags #riotcleanup and #broomarmy, and on websites riotcleanup.co.uk and broomarmy.co.uk, hundreds of people have helped sweep broken glass from the streets and repair wrecked shops.
Manchester resident Rachel said she and her friends were planning the clean-up even as riots in the city were going on.
"Manchester people are very resilient and they're not going to let this beat them. Once things calm down we're going to go out together onto the streets and start tidying up the mess that they've left in the city," she said.
However they choose to go about it, it seems the British public is only too happy to join in with what Prime Minister David Cameron has called the "fightback" against the rioters.
"We will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets," Cameron said.
Counterswarm in England riots: headlines on role of social media
I pulled the headlines (below) from Google News. On one level the use of social to counter the rioters is heartening. On another level the huge emphasis that the mainstream media gave to the 'Internet patrols,' as against the relatively light coverage given to the on-foot citizen patrols points to a disturbing trend, which manifested full-blown during Egypt's 'revolution': the attempt to give social media a much greater role and signifance in the struggle for freedom than it merits.
The same happened with press coverage of the mass protests that led to Mubarak's ouster. The citizen patrols in Cairo and other cities in Egypt that were formed to protect civilian life and property during the widespread arson and looting that descended -- patrols often working in tandem with the police, who'd led their offcials posts -- were an example of a true counterswarm tactic.
Yet publics around the world were unaware of the situation if they were taking their understanding of the unrest in Egypt from television; that's because major media TV (notably CNN International and al Jazeera) were not showing viewers the violence that broken out all over the country.
Looters hunted down via websites
Sydney Morning Herald - 7 hours ago
LONDON: Some Britons have taken to social networking sites to expose rioters who went on the rampage, posting photographs of masked gangs looting and hurling missiles. Much of the violence, which started in London but has since spread to other parts of ...
London Riots 2011: Violence Caught on Surveillance Cameras
ABC News - Ned Potter - 9 hours ago
London Police posted images of alleged rioters on Flickr, and asked the public to help identify them. (London Metropolitan Police/Flickr) British police, trying to catch instigators of the London riots, fought back with ...
The London Riots: Social Media's Latest Watershed Moment
PC Magazine - Peter Pachal - 9 hours ago
The police pursuing rioters in London have a new ally: social networks. How Twitter, Flickr, and their brethren are making the world a safer place. By Peter Pachal A city descends into chaos and rioting following a terrible loss ...
The same happened with press coverage of the mass protests that led to Mubarak's ouster. The citizen patrols in Cairo and other cities in Egypt that were formed to protect civilian life and property during the widespread arson and looting that descended -- patrols often working in tandem with the police, who'd led their offcials posts -- were an example of a true counterswarm tactic.
Yet publics around the world were unaware of the situation if they were taking their understanding of the unrest in Egypt from television; that's because major media TV (notably CNN International and al Jazeera) were not showing viewers the violence that broken out all over the country.
Looters hunted down via websites
Sydney Morning Herald - 7 hours ago
LONDON: Some Britons have taken to social networking sites to expose rioters who went on the rampage, posting photographs of masked gangs looting and hurling missiles. Much of the violence, which started in London but has since spread to other parts of ...
London Riots 2011: Violence Caught on Surveillance Cameras
ABC News - Ned Potter - 9 hours ago
London Police posted images of alleged rioters on Flickr, and asked the public to help identify them. (London Metropolitan Police/Flickr) British police, trying to catch instigators of the London riots, fought back with ...
The London Riots: Social Media's Latest Watershed Moment
PC Magazine - Peter Pachal - 9 hours ago
The police pursuing rioters in London have a new ally: social networks. How Twitter, Flickr, and their brethren are making the world a safer place. By Peter Pachal A city descends into chaos and rioting following a terrible loss ...
Counterswarm in England riots: role of social media
Looters hunted down via websites
Sydney Morning Herald - 7 hours ago
LONDON: Some Britons have taken to social networking sites to expose rioters who went on the rampage, posting photographs of masked gangs looting and hurling missiles. Much of the violence, which started in London but has since spread to other parts of ...
London Riots 2011: Violence Caught on Surveillance Cameras
ABC News - Ned Potter - 9 hours ago
London Police posted images of alleged rioters on Flickr, and asked the public to help identify them. (London Metropolitan Police/Flickr) British police, trying to catch instigators of the London riots, fought back with ...
The London Riots: Social Media's Latest Watershed Moment
PC Magazine - Peter Pachal - 9 hours ago
The police pursuing rioters in London have a new ally: social networks. How Twitter, Flickr, and their brethren are making the world a safer place. By Peter Pachal A city descends into chaos and rioting following a terrible loss
Sydney Morning Herald - 7 hours ago
LONDON: Some Britons have taken to social networking sites to expose rioters who went on the rampage, posting photographs of masked gangs looting and hurling missiles. Much of the violence, which started in London but has since spread to other parts of ...
London Riots 2011: Violence Caught on Surveillance Cameras
ABC News - Ned Potter - 9 hours ago
London Police posted images of alleged rioters on Flickr, and asked the public to help identify them. (London Metropolitan Police/Flickr) British police, trying to catch instigators of the London riots, fought back with ...
The London Riots: Social Media's Latest Watershed Moment
PC Magazine - Peter Pachal - 9 hours ago
The police pursuing rioters in London have a new ally: social networks. How Twitter, Flickr, and their brethren are making the world a safer place. By Peter Pachal A city descends into chaos and rioting following a terrible loss
Counterswarm in England Riots: "Vigilantes' join 16,000 police on London streets"
This report from the Independent, as with similar reports on the same topic, might be misleading because the question is which came first: the larger police deployment or the appearance of citizen patrols (called 'vigiliantes' at first by the British media). I will have to dig through the old news reports to nail down the answer, although I'm leaning toward the answer that it was the patrols. In any case, the phenomenon of the citzen patrols that arose during the rioting is, I believe, a true counter-swarm tactic albeit an unplanned one.
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