Yep, high time every business owner can get a permit to have a gatling gun at his disposal! :smile:
What the Hell is Going on in London?
- Thread starter Bar Sinister
- Start date
Yep, high time every business owner can get a permit to have a gatling gun at his disposal! :smile:
The bottles of coke and Penthouse magazines?
Why police were so soft on London looters: They 'were ordered to stand and observe' as capital burned (but in Manchester they were hunting looters within hours)
Yard insiders: Officers were 'told just to try and contain violence'
Scotland Yard insiders have revealed teams were frustrated at their inability to wade in and arrest troublemakers while they looted and burnt out shops.
They had apparently been told to try and contain any violence but not to haul away offenders who would instead be identified through video footage later, according to The Times.
It was only on Monday night, when the riots escalated still further, that tactics changed and armoured vehicles called Jankels were used to disperse the crowds.
On Tuesday night, some 16,000 officers also flooded London's streets - almost triple the previous night's deployment - and they were finally given the green light to confront the gangs.
Police are said to have complained they were ordered to go 'soft' on rioters
Police on Brixton High Street before they were apparently given the all-clear to take tougher action
The Met has also come under fire for taking three days to issue any images of suspects - and then only releasing 12 grainy pictures. The Mail Online managed to produce another 30 with ease.
In contrast, Greather Manchester Police were issuing images online via social network sites within hours of similar violence in their area.
In Birmingham, police tracked down suspected rioters hours later and smashed into their homes to arrest them.
Officers mounted raids on around a dozen properties across the city and made seven arrests. They also recovered apparently looted items.
The police's tactics have led to much public criticism from residents and business owners, who are bemused at the 'soft' approach when their livelihoods are being ruined.
Eye witnesses have told of ranks of police standing by while mobs of youths rampaged and stole from shop fronts and terrorised residents.
However, it has been suggested that the approach may also have been dictated by the sheer scale of the problem with teams unable to spare officers to make arrests on the spot.
There have also been calls for far more robust measures - including plastic bullets, water cannon and even the Army - to quell the chaos.
By Monday night, police were using armoured vehicles and considering using baton rounds
Police officers in riot gear stand outside a looted sports store in Hackney
It has been suggested that the softer approach has been sparked by controversy over the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 riots and wider criticism of policing during protests.
Mr Tomlinson was struck by a policeman wielding a baton during the G20 protests in 2009 and shoved to the ground.
He suffered massive internal bleeding and died minutes later. The officer involved is now awaiting trial for manslaughter over his death.
Scotland Yard was also heavily criticised in the High Court in April for using 'kettling' during the G20 demonstrations.
Judges ruled the Met had broken the law in the way it kettled 5,000 protesters because it was 'unjustified' and an unlawful deprivation of liberty.
Metropolitan Police officers detaining a suspected rioter in Enfield on Tuesday night
The police approach had toughened by day four of the violence in the capital
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen insists 'nobody' gave any instruction to go soft. 'I'm now aware of any order to take things easy,' he told BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.
Ian Tomlinson before he was pushed by a police officer at the G20 protests
He said: 'We have had this allegation made a few times. You have to realise we had over 3,000 officers on Sunday night. That is the size of two small forces combined. It is a significant asset that we put out there.
'We filled the cells of London on Sunday and Monday night, we drove Jankels at looters - if that is taking things easy, I don't understand that logic.'
He admitted there were 'significant gaps' in the police response and that they were 'enormously stretched'.
But he insisted: 'As far as I'm concerned Chris Allison and Lynne Owens who led this did not give any instruction and nobody else has either.'
On wider tactics, he said everything 'from local engagement to extreme use of force' had been considered.
Officers trained in using baton rounds were ready if needed but there are currently no water cannon on the British mainland, he added.
Baton rounds, or plastic bullets, can only be used if sanctioned by the commissioner of the Met Police and have never been fired on the British mainland.
They were issued to police at the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham in 1985 but never used - although the weapons are apparently also issued annually for the Notting Hill Carnival.
Read more: London riots: Police were soft on looters because they were 'ordered to stand and observe' | Mail Online
Why police were so soft on London looters: They 'were ordered to stand and observe' as capital burned (but in Manchester they were hunting looters within hours)
Yard insiders: Officers were 'told just to try and contain violence'
- Complaints by public that looting mobs were being allowed to continue
- Tactics finally changed on Monday as armoured vehicles moved in
- Met Police took three days to issue pictures of offenders.
Scotland Yard insiders have revealed teams were frustrated at their inability to wade in and arrest troublemakers while they looted and burnt out shops.
They had apparently been told to try and contain any violence but not to haul away offenders who would instead be identified through video footage later, according to The Times.
It was only on Monday night, when the riots escalated still further, that tactics changed and armoured vehicles called Jankels were used to disperse the crowds.
On Tuesday night, some 16,000 officers also flooded London's streets - almost triple the previous night's deployment - and they were finally given the green light to confront the gangs.
The Met has also come under fire for taking three days to issue any images of suspects - and then only releasing 12 grainy pictures. The Mail Online managed to produce another 30 with ease.
In contrast, Greather Manchester Police were issuing images online via social network sites within hours of similar violence in their area.
In Birmingham, police tracked down suspected rioters hours later and smashed into their homes to arrest them.
Officers mounted raids on around a dozen properties across the city and made seven arrests. They also recovered apparently looted items.
The police's tactics have led to much public criticism from residents and business owners, who are bemused at the 'soft' approach when their livelihoods are being ruined.
Eye witnesses have told of ranks of police standing by while mobs of youths rampaged and stole from shop fronts and terrorised residents.
However, it has been suggested that the approach may also have been dictated by the sheer scale of the problem with teams unable to spare officers to make arrests on the spot.
There have also been calls for far more robust measures - including plastic bullets, water cannon and even the Army - to quell the chaos.
It has been suggested that the softer approach has been sparked by controversy over the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 riots and wider criticism of policing during protests.
Mr Tomlinson was struck by a policeman wielding a baton during the G20 protests in 2009 and shoved to the ground.
He suffered massive internal bleeding and died minutes later. The officer involved is now awaiting trial for manslaughter over his death.
Scotland Yard was also heavily criticised in the High Court in April for using 'kettling' during the G20 demonstrations.
Judges ruled the Met had broken the law in the way it kettled 5,000 protesters because it was 'unjustified' and an unlawful deprivation of liberty.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen insists 'nobody' gave any instruction to go soft. 'I'm now aware of any order to take things easy,' he told BBC's Radio 4 Today programme.
Ian Tomlinson before he was pushed by a police officer at the G20 protests
He said: 'We have had this allegation made a few times. You have to realise we had over 3,000 officers on Sunday night. That is the size of two small forces combined. It is a significant asset that we put out there.
'We filled the cells of London on Sunday and Monday night, we drove Jankels at looters - if that is taking things easy, I don't understand that logic.'
He admitted there were 'significant gaps' in the police response and that they were 'enormously stretched'.
But he insisted: 'As far as I'm concerned Chris Allison and Lynne Owens who led this did not give any instruction and nobody else has either.'
On wider tactics, he said everything 'from local engagement to extreme use of force' had been considered.
Officers trained in using baton rounds were ready if needed but there are currently no water cannon on the British mainland, he added.
Baton rounds, or plastic bullets, can only be used if sanctioned by the commissioner of the Met Police and have never been fired on the British mainland.
They were issued to police at the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham in 1985 but never used - although the weapons are apparently also issued annually for the Notting Hill Carnival.
Read more: London riots: Police were soft on looters because they were 'ordered to stand and observe' | Mail Online
Kelly McParland: Two centuries of social reform go up in flames in London | Full Comment | National Post
The point I keep trying to make.....these rioting idiots live in a society so socially progressive that the police stand aside and watch rioting and looting, so no one gets hurt......
The point I keep trying to make.....these rioting idiots live in a society so socially progressive that the police stand aside and watch rioting and looting, so no one gets hurt......
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The Reform Bill eventually passed despite his misgivings, setting off almost two centuries of steady liberalization that — just as Wellington had feared — robbed the upper classes of many of their privileges and shamelessly spread around rights and equality among the common folk.
Is the author trying to say Serfdom was better?
If MCParland hasn't figured out yet why they are rioting and it baffles just as many, I fear for our future.
Reading comprehension seems to be a dead art....
No, she is saying that the rioters in Wellington's time had reason, that rebellion gained them the passage of the Reform Bill, which sety the stage for much needed liberalization...........
The rioters today have no rational reason to run amok.....
You don't think being stuck with $4Quadrillion in debt they never created isn't of major concern? I do.
the 17 zillion bucks that are owed is largely due to the fact that 1.5 million of them live without employment........and yes, they get a roof over their heads, food in their belly, and free health care.
But gee, the state has failed to buy them each a flat screen TV, so a-looting they will go........
This is what happens when you create a state of entitlement.
the 17 zillion bucks that are owed is largely due to the fact that 1.5 million of them live without employment........
..........by CHOICE???? Did not realize they were a nation of slackers. ( sarcasm alert) with feelings of entitlement to remain slackers as a career choice.
..........by CHOICE???? Did not realize they were a nation of slackers. ( sarcasm alert) with feelings of entitlement to remain slackers as a career choice.
Hey! Okay, I've got an idea!
Put them to work for their dole.....make them show up to do community service or no cheque.....you know, work for it, like the rest of us......
You really don't think this stuff through, do you?
actually, your idea has merit. Lots of merit. Not sure how the medically challenged will fair. , but they can probably stuff envelopes as well as anyone.
can you manage to post an entry without attacking the poster. ??
The wonder of 12 hour shifts.........4 days on four off.........actually, five on 3 off this week, OT ya know.
I think a 60 hour week classifies as working.
Maybe he/she is "retired". ;-) That could be the current euphamism for unemployed or unemployable.;-)