London Riots

[BGH122]

Rioters attacked firemen who attempted to put out the blaze and attacked members of the public who assisted, or even spoke to, the rescue services.

See this bit? That pisses me off. Unless a fireman is using his hose as a weapon (or his axe/oxygen tank/etc) you don't interrupt them (especially not to attack them!). I'd sort of understand attacking a police officer during a riot (I wouldn't necessarily support it, but it'd at least make some semblance of sense) but a firey? Next they'll be attacking paramedics! And then what!? Who could you possibly attack in a riot that makes less sense than a medical professional or a fireman?

These people just want to cause mayhem. They don't care who gets hurt. That said, there's simply no excuse for attacking any member of public service who's attempting to do their duty, be they a fireman, paramedic or a police officer.

I've updated the OP with the new riot locations.

Well, brits are bad at rioting, but contain with teargas and beanbag shotguns? Or you know, bigger cars

OK for one you've obviously never been to England or seen one of our towns or cities, are streets are so small you can barely fit an average sized car through some roads if there are parked cars. We couldn't have bigger cars if we wanted to (which we don't because our gas prices are so high).

Second we're great at rioting, we're just terrible at containing them. Part of the reason in this case is that the areas are sort of police no go areas due to the amount of violence is directed towards police on a daily basis. Shouldn't be like this but there's nothing you can do really.

You don't have those armored vans in the british police force?

No, we don't use those. We use Sprinter vans with a mesh grille over their windshield. We're heavily under-equipped.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

A thoroughly well put post overall. Welcome to the Escapist, if you haven't already been welcomed!

I think the problem is that most of the people involved in these riots (and the new riots/public disorders/lootings that have sprung up across other black areas of London, or so I'm told) never had a legitimate grievance in the first place and were just a bunch of yobs who wanted to get into a fight.

We've got a huge problem in London, that no oxbridge educated politician is actually aware of, with a growing underclass of people who're, for want of a better word, amoral. People who genuinely don't care about society, genuinely don't even consider that their actions have consequences not only for themselves, but for others too and who generally don't understand concepts like 'personal responsibility' and just want to blame everyone else for everything they do. It's very problematic that the general approach of the last decade from the government has been one of excusing the bad behaviour of certain sections of society as failings of the police (be it in their failure to keep control with their inadequate support or failure to maintain positive relations with criminals).

It's all very well for us to say that certain behaviours aren't acceptable, but when not a single burglar nor knife-crime convict received the maximum sentence last year these words become resoundingly hollow.

Thank you for the welcome, although I have been here for some time. And thanks for supporting my point, and I agree with you completely; there are people who are completely unaware, or even just plain ignorant, of the consequences their actions bring. These are the people who make it harder for both sides to make some sort of agreement. As for the burglar and convict that recieved less-than-adequate sentences, well to put it bluntly: legal systems are f***ed up sometimes. It the people's job, however, to do their best to choose the right government officials that will benefit them, not to throw a temper-tantrum when something doesn't go the way they want it to.

 

[Deathninja19]

Well, brits are bad at rioting, but contain with teargas and beanbag shotguns? Or you know, bigger cars

OK for one you've obviously never been to England or seen one of our towns or cities, are streets are so small you can barely fit an average sized car through some roads if there are parked cars. We couldn't have bigger cars if we wanted to (which we don't because our gas prices are so high).

Second we're great at rioting, we're just terrible at containing them. Part of the reason in this case is that the areas are sort of police no go areas due to the amount of violence is directed towards police on a daily basis. Shouldn't be like this but there's nothing you can do really.

You don't have those armored vans in the british police force?

We have Police Vans, but they're barley bigger than commercial vans and the biggest ones could probably hold about 10 people. And the most armour the vans get is a little metal grate at the front to protect it from thrown missles, the sides are still exposed.

This is probably the biggest you'll see:

http://www.housenumbers.ca/LondonPoliceVan.jpg

If I'm honest our Police here are a joke, they're underequipped and understaffed and the only reason for that is a lack of violent crime on this scale, hopefully the riots will make our Politicians pull their heads out of their arses but I'm not going to hold my breath for it.

 

[Superbeast]

No, we don't use those. We use Sprinter vans with a mesh grille over their windshield. We're heavily under-equipped.

I'm considering joining the police once I leave Uni. Hopefully the government will realise the police need some better equipment (but not guns for god's sake!). It's a good job the police have such a large budget....oh wait, not any more

I am concerned as to how the police response to this is going to evolve, given the Conservatives' slashing of police budgets. It seems the police are so over-stretched/under equipped, that (According to the BBC website) when one politician was asked "At what point would you consider sending in the army?" the reply was "All options are being considered".

If this continues (I'm in Birmingham, where some trouble sprang up last night - and apparently in my part too, though there is nothing in the news about that, just the city centre) then we may see a military presence on the streets of the UK. It was terrifying seeing that in Italy, and I really never thought that it would be something I could potentially see in this country.

 

[MrJKapowey]

You don't have those armored vans in the british police force?

No, we don't use those. We use Sprinter vans with a mesh grille over their windshield. We're heavily under-equipped.

Don't we have the massive black armoured trucks. I thought I saw some on BBC News earlier, driving down the street as mobile cover for the riot officers.

OT:

Hello Rioters. Look at your Friend, now back to me, now at your friend, now back to me. Sadly, he isn?t me, but if he stopped using petrol bombs, and started using the job centre he could potentially be me. Look down, back up.Where are we? You're at an interview with the man your friend could work for. What?s in your hand? Back to me. I have it. It?s an application to that job you need. Look again. The form is now money. Anything is possible when you get a job and stop looting. Im on a horse!

This was hilarious and I had to share it.

Anyway, hopefully it's stopped by now and won't flare up again.