Nearly 700 Charged in U.K. Riots, David Cameron Enlists Help of Former New York Police Chief
- Posted on August 12, 2011 at 6:43pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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LONDON (The Blaze/AP) — Thousands of extra police officers were stationed on Britain’s streets, as the country faced its first weekend since riots raged through suburbs and town centers, leaving a scarred landscape of broken glass and torched buildings.
Police in London, which saw the worst violence, have charged almost 700 people with violence, disorder and looting, and the city’s mayor said Londoners wanted to see tough sentences handed out to the guilty. Hundreds of stores were looted, buildings were set ablaze and five people died amid the mayhem that broke out Saturday in London and spread over four nights across England.
Police, meanwhile, hit back Friday against claims they were too soft in their initial response to the disorder.
Prime Minister David Cameron said officers had been overwhelmed at first, outmaneuvered by mobile gangs of rioters. He said “far too few police were deployed onto the streets. And the tactics they were using weren’t working.”
That changed Tuesday, when 16,000 officers were out on London’s streets – almost three times the number of the night before. Cameron said the extra officers will remain on patrol through the weekend.
Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, acknowledged that police had faced “an unprecedented situation, unique circumstances” – but said it was police themselves, rather than “political interference,” that got the situation under control.
“The more robust policing tactics you saw were not a function of political interference,” he told the BBC. “They were a function of the numbers being available to allow the chief constables to change their tactics.”
Cameron vowed “swift justice” for perpetrators, and courts were struggling to cope with a flood of defendants.
Across the country, more than 1,700 people have been arrested. Courts in London, Birmingham and Manchester have stayed open around the clock since Wednesday to deal with hundreds of alleged offenders.
The alleged looters and vandals included an 11-year-old boy, a teenage ballerina, a university English student from a prosperous commuter town, and Natasha Reid, a 24-year-old university graduate who admitted stealing a TV from a looted electronics store. Her lawyer said she had turned herself in because she could not sleep for guilt. A judge told her she would probably go to jail when she is sentenced later.
Another was Chelsea Ives, an 18-year-old chosen as a volunteer ambassador for next year’s Olympic Games. She is accused of burglary, violent disorder and throwing bricks at a police car during riots in north London on Sunday.
The following AP news report was released early Friday, when the number of rioters charged was around 600:
Newspapers reported that Ives was charged after her parents saw her rioting on TV and turned her in. She was ordered detained until a court appearance on Wednesday.
Mayor Boris Johnson said it was fitting that “significant sentences” were being handed down.
“That is, frankly, what Londoners want to see,” he said.
Although the rioters came from all Britain’s ethnic communities, the violence stirred fears of heightened racial tensions – especially in Birmingham, where three South Asian men were killed Tuesday when they were hit by a car, reportedly driven by black youths.
Hours later Tariq Jahan, whose 21-year-old son Haroon was killed, urged calm. So far, he has been heeded.
“This is not a race issue,” he said. “The family has received messages of sympathy and support from all parts of the community – all races, all faiths and backgrounds.”
Home Secretary Theresa May said she was banning a march planned for Saturday by the far-right English Defense League in the central England town of Telford amid fears of violence.
The violence was triggered by fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four who was gunned down in north London’s Tottenham area on Aug. 4 under disputed circumstances. A protest demanding justice on Saturday devolved into a riot, which spread to other parts of London and beyond.
Britain’s police watchdog apologized Friday for “inadvertently” giving the impression immediately after the shooting that Duggan had fired at officers. The Independent Police Complaints Commission said, “We may have verbally led journalists to believe that shots were exchanged.”
A gun was found in the car Duggan was traveling in, but ballistic tests showed that a bullet found lodged in an officer’s radio was police issue.
Britain’s Parliament was called back from its summer break for an emergency debate on the riots Thursday, with Cameron promising authorities would get strong powers to stop street mayhem from erupting again.
He said authorities were considering new powers, including allowing police to order thugs to remove masks or hoods, evicting troublemakers from subsidized housing and temporarily disabling cell phone instant messaging services.
He told lawmakers that he would look to cities like Boston for inspiration, and mentioned former Los Angeles, New York and Boston Police Chief William Bratton as a person who could help offer advice.
The prime minister’s office office said Friday that Cameron had spoken with Bratton and thanked him for agreeing to make himself available for a series of meetings in the U.K. this fall to share his expertise tackling gang violence.
Bratton “will be providing this advice in a personal capacity and on an unpaid basis,” it added.
Bratton told The Associated Press on Friday evening, however, that he’s giving a free consultation that he hopes will turn into a paid contract.
Bratton – who gained fame by fighting crime with innovation and bravado as he headed police departments in New York, Boston and Los Angeles – confirmed to the AP in a phone interview that Cameron had called him Friday seeking his expertise.
“We can definitely take some of the lessons here and apply them there,” Bratton said. During his conversation with Cameron, Bratton said, “he thanked me for my willingness to work for them, and I thanked him for the opportunity.”
Cameron also said earlier this week that the government, police and intelligence services were looking at whether there should be limits on the use of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook or services like BlackBerry Messenger to spread disorder.
BlackBerry’s simple and largely cost free messaging service was used by rioters to coordinate their activities, Cameron’s office said. An 18-year-old woman was charged Friday with using BlackBerry messaging to encourage others to take part in violence. Several others have been charged with inciting violence on Facebook and Twitter.
The government said it planned to hold talks with police chiefs, Twitter, Facebook and Blackberry manufacturer Research In Motion Ltd.
But any move to disable the services temporarily is likely to be strongly opposed by civil libertarians.
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rogwl
Posted on August 14, 2011 at 11:49amThis is the result of decades of liberal welfare-state policies. You raise kids who believe that nothing that they do is wrong… It is all justified because of the wealthy.
Report Post »LowTechBackup
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 8:30pmHere’s a hint for the UK Police. If you really want to handle this b/s, perhaps you should consider changing the rules. To start, having a face that is even partially covered should be illegal with penalty of arrest, jail time, and fine (to include hoods and masks as needed). another hint- it’s likely the people planning these “events” are already changing their tactics for the next round- so when the police plan for the recent riots, the game will have already changed. that’s why the UK Police need to take the offensive and change the rules.
Report Post »LowTechBackup
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 8:04pmSome of the UK photos show the UK Police with what looks like 19th century tech dealing with 21st century riots. Did they get the night sticks from a museum? While some of the high-end push-button tech is over-done, the UK Police deserve a major upgrade in tools to handle the b/s in their streets.
Report Post »Kathleen3
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 5:22pmBratton was instrumental in facilitating the rise of gangs by his refusal to enforce federal law and creating de facto sanctuary cities for illegal aliens. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, yes; Bratton, no.
Report Post »inferno
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 2:03pmI can solve their problem with no coat to them. Shoot looters, and leave them lying in the street to send a message. Success guaranteed !
Report Post »georgiavietvet
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 10:21pminferno……………… i have been advocating shooting these thugs for a long time now. businesses should keep shotguns in their stores and use them on looters. i’ll just that a few dead thugs and this foolishness will stop……………………………..
Report Post »Hisemiester
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:45pmWhen you read ‘50% underemployment in teens’. The pot is simmering. It will not be long before it boils over especially with the race factor being stirred in every day by Obama and the main stream media.
Report Post »Hisemiester
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:26pmDoes Great Britain have any slow leaking boats? Protesters are one thing, Rioters destroying property and killing people are another and deserve the worst you can give them.
Report Post »affinnity
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 10:55amThe more I watch this unfold the more I wonder what would cause that many people to react like this. We should be careful not to judge others, especially until we understand the reasons for the riots. For all we know these riots could be justified. I don’t live in the U.K. so I don‘t know what’s really going on.
Report Post »Hisemiester
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:28pmJust wait Affinnity, you will see this occurring here in the good old USA. Better find a hidy hole. you will be on their list.
Report Post »Chief Moolah Eggplant
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 1:48pmA “justified riot”?
Report Post »That’s like a “justified rape”, is it not?
Now, why did that gang rape that girl?
We must not judge but wait and understand the reason for the rape.
Perhaps she was asking for it by wearing that short skirt?
wrs840
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 4:43pmThese riots are a direct result of the welfare class that the British politicians have created through their own efforts. When you feed the bears…sooner or later, you’re gonna run outta marshmallows.
Bears take exception to being denied their “fair share” of the goodies. Never mind that you’re fresh out. They don’t accept that as a reason for you to stop. The results are predictable.
What the Nazi war machine couldn’t accomplish…Parliament has.
Report Post »Endstatism
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 9:45amBratton is one of the biggest douchebags ever to sit in the uniform of a police chief. He is one of the most virulently anti Second Amendment police chief in America outside of the political hacks that run the Chicago and Philly police department. Actually Bratton would fit perfectly for the UK since that nation is on the bullet train toward totalitarianism. I hope he stays there and never comes back to the USA.
Report Post »Endstatism
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 9:41amThe UK is only treating the symptoms of their problems, not the root causes which is a large dependency class, a anti business mentality, rewarding sloth rather than success and a growing antipathy toward civil and constitutional rights. You can already see their government wanting to ban protests (by a unelected official with no accountablity to voters) and wanting to shut down cell and internet services. Once the precident has been set to shut off wireless networks simply because of a crisis, that gives the opportunity for government to shut down the phones and net at anytime for any reason, real or contrived. Their police should have used rubber bullets the first night of the riots and then announce that anyone rioting the second night would be fired on with live ammo. The riots would have been over with the first night.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 8:45amI find it amazing that the UK has to call in a former NY police chief??? Is there no real intelligents in England’s police force??? England is only beginning to see the worst of what is to come. They have opened their arms to too many of the enemy, they have embraced them.. they have embraced socialism, but whats new, thats why our ancestors fled their country.. but now here we are, generations later, and we have allowed the very thing to take hold in this our America. We must fight this evil.. God help us!
Report Post »Map351
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 8:39amBring in the scoops!
Report Post »http://www.videovista.net/reviews/nov03/soygreen2.jpg
auntmoxie.com
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 8:26amI’m taking “Beginning Handgun” this weekend at a local shooting range. Anyone care to join?
Report Post »Asmodeus13
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:36pmSure, it’s a date! >.>
Report Post »Hisemiester
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:52pmMy wife and I moved to the boondocks about 11 years ago from the San Francisco Bay area. I taught here how to shoot. She can shoot the eye out of a snake at 30 feet with a 22 caliber Ruger pistol with 6 1/2″ barrel. Also taught her how to use a variety of shotguns and rifles. Also, as I will say to you, I taught her never to hesitate to shoot an intruder first, Just pull the trigger, don’t say STOP or I will shoot. If you hesitate, you’re done.
Report Post »inferno
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 2:04pmAlready done that . But thanks for the offer !
Report Post »Gypsy123
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 4:04amIt is called don’t take a baseball bat to a gun fight. These cops should have been shooting them with chemical weapons rubber bullets an if that don’t help move up to the lead
Report Post »robert
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 6:31amSo they’ve been charged. I mean, what’s the big deal? The most they’re going to get is 6 months.
They’re living on welfare and not working anyway, so it’s not like the slap on the wrist will cost them their jobs and salaries. They don’t have any.
Thry’ll get free room and board for a while, get released,. pick up their welfare payments and hang out here and there, exchanging hate speech about whitey and the injustice of it all, convincing each other they’re just being kept down further by the white man.
The entire Western world is nursing explosive vipers within their inner cities, people who do not belong and people who don’t want to belong. They will continue to straddle two worlds, one in which they reside…and hate…and one they or their parents left, which is the one they really belong to.
Multiculturalism is the work of fools. It takes 24/7 to monitor pluralism, plus an army of propagandists aplying mind control techniques to convince the natives that “diversity is their strength,” contrary to what they see is happening around them.
Constant intimidation is required to keep in place the mind set that anyone who doesn’t agree that tribalism is good with charges of “hater” and “racist” against those who are bright enough to see the hypocrisy of it all and realize they’re in the midst of a failed experiment in social engineering.
Big brother’s brainwashing continues on unabated, around the clock, and will come down hard on indepe
Report Post »Ready2Rumble
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 10:43amEnoch Powell warned of this so many years ago.
Report Post »Mountain Dew
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:40amBratton??? You gotta be kidding.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 10:10amI always laugh at the chiefs of police that have 4 stars on their collars, like they are a General in the military or something. What a bunch of phoney wannabees. Try some real combat for a change before you think you are a 4-star General.
Report Post »That aside, maybe “Great” Britain should try deporting all of those 3rd world immigrants that they pumped in like water after WWII. How is that multi-culturalism working out for you guys? Ha ha ha ha…………. And another thing, try knocking some heads for a change like we do here in the USA. It works wonders on young punks.
GOTT-EM-MAUSER
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 11:00am@MIL-DOT,
The “MILITARIZATION of POLCE” is/was/and WILL BE, a VERY IMPORTANT part of the continuing Enslavement of the American People under the COMMUNIST YOKE. They are the OCCUPATION ARMY for the Political Elites that run this country. Their ONLY real MISSION, is to SERVE and PROTECT the CONTINUED and EFFICIENT COLLECTION of TAXES by whatever particular POLITICAL SUBDIVISION of the STAZI REGIMES that issues their PHONY CORPORATE COMMISIONS and keeps their paychecks cashing.
POLICE are ALL CIVILIANS, a fact that will bring swift and substantial argument from the current ranks of the 300lb. UBER KOMMANDOS you encounter anymore. They see themselves more and more, as some kind of Psuedo “Military” Organization, “Just Doing Their Job” ORDERS are ORDERS, no matter WHAT those ORDERS ARE.
It is Ironic that almost ALL of them have no concept of the fact, that they are ABLE to ENFORCE the “LAW” only because the People that it is to be ENFORCED ON, ALLOW them to do so. They RELY SOLEY on this “GOODWILL” unknowingly, and instead BELIEVE COMPLETELY in their self created “ILLUSION OF INVINCIBILITY”. This is exactly the reason so many of them get themselves killed every year.
Like so many things today, the REALITY of it, in NO WAY MATCHES the “HOLLYWOOD” engendered “P.R.-DREAM”. A Man, MUST KNOW HIS OWN LIMITATIONS, or he is/will be “EASY PICKINS”.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 6:50pmRight on Gott, Nobody needs to tell you what the story is. Great post brother.
Report Post »grandma7
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:07amArm the bobbies
Report Post ».
WhoIsTheCoon
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:02amcharge them with murder by association along side might stick in England but, do it as a warning shot across the bow to the rest who think it’s smart.
Report Post »Christian Kalgaard
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:51pmthe plot thickens.
guess what, this was not spontaneous, this was planned all along…!
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 1:09amYes, pure Piven tactics. Collapse the Country by overloading the system. The goal is to install their “wonderful” utopia, with the political Socialists controlling us, all. Seems like a mad scientist dream, doesn’t it?
Report Post »drattastic
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:20pmNow they are in trouble ,slaps on the wrist all round.
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:11pmI would want more than a little stick for that job…maybe a sawed off shotgun!
Report Post »Hisemiester
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 12:33pmModel 97 Winchester 12 gauge with 16 inch barrel does just fine. Shore makes ones butt pucker to hear a round being jacked into the chamber when one is on the receiving end. Devastating piece with buckshot.
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:10pmHey, Invisible Committee, you small group of French post-Situationist intellectuals and academics….these are the losers you’ve incited to riot with your stupid book. A bunch of dumb greedy, BUSTED idiots. In the end you’re a mere nuisance, inspiring fools to destroy and murder in flash mob attacks.
“she could not sleep for guilt.” How many that voted for Obama are going to feel like her by 2012?
Report Post »S_Malc13
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:08pmThe more they show how Socialism and multiculturalism (with EU’s open border policy) is a very bad idea, hopefully more Americans will wake up to how their globalization came about, so we can avoid the same mistakes here.
Report Post »Weiners Wiener
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:03pmAfter days of outrage, I‘ve decided I’m actually happy about these riots, save for those innocent victims who lost lives or property. For years those ****** in the UK have been telling us why they’re so great – do you ever read the comments on the Guardian? Such a snobby, rat-infested hole that place is. I’ve been there twice. Don’t care to ever see it again. And now, those twits can keep their mouths shut about all that’s wrong with America — they have enough to clean up in their own backyard.
Report Post »Ksbritexpat
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 7:01pm@Weuners wiener … what an apt name you have. A snobby rat-infested hole is it? I am glad you won’t be going back, they have enough problems there already.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:02pmTaking away freedoms won’t change a thing in the U.K. SOCIALISM and the resultant entitlement mentality is the problem. These people rioting are of the same mentality as many are here at home in the U.S.A. Don‘t think it won’t happen here……….BUT THIS TIME WE MUST NOT TAKE IT LYING DOWN.
Report Post »KangarooJack
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 11:14pmOh my goodness! What is in store for us, makes Katrina look like a preschool primer.
L.A. Riots? Oh, no.
It’s well past time to put your “PC” veneer aside. It‘s time to ’trust your gut’.
Report Post »GOTT-EM-MAUSER
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 11:05amKANGAROO,
Time to TRUST “ONLY” in GOD and RIFLE. (GOTT-EM-MAUSER)
Report Post »txn4justice
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 10:54pmMake them pay for the damages. Deport them if they are not UK citizens. Jail them if they are.
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