The reasons behind the riots may lie in successive generations of multiple deprivation and cyclic poverty. The justifications do not.
Events such as the ongoing riots across London, Manchester and the West Midlands, always make us consider the fragility of society; how seemingly unshakable bastions of civilisation can be quickly bludgeoned into writhing cess-pits of thuggery and barbarism. We saw it in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, in Haiti after the tragic earthquake and even, to a very limited extent, in Japan after the Tsunami. Much of the looting and burglary can be explained away as mindless opportunism. There is certainly a danger of over-analysing the actions of thugs, but to throw any intellectual curiosity on the bonfire would be deeply unsatisfying, and quite possibly dangerous. There is, justifiably, huge public anger; but let’s not become blinded by fury that leads us to making critical mistakes.
We must prioritise our responses. Plenty of academics, community workers and social activists have appeared in the media to decry the appalling neglect and marginalisation that is endemic throughout deprived communities in places such as Hackney, Tottenham and Clapham, and in parts of all major settlements. This is of course true, but our probing into the underlying causes mustn’t come before we send out a clear message to anyone who is rioting, looting or vandalising: you will be brought to justice. People intent on causing harm or damage will be denied the freedom to move. They will be arrested swiftly and robustly; gatherings of malevolent youths will be forcibly dispersed and harassed until they tire. Whether they walk away now or not, youths who have contributed to the grotesque escalation of violence throughout the past few days will have nowhere to hide, will never be able to stop looking over their shoulder for the police snatch raid, won’t find a moment of rest as they are subjected to suspicion and denied freedom of movement. Life will get tough for them.
To make this happen, we need to learn from our European cousins. In France, police tactics included covert snatch and grab operations in the midst of crowds – the ringleaders were identified, surrounded covertly by teams of up to ten plainclothes officers, then suddenly and brutally set upon and dragged (with significant use of truncheon, police dog and pepper spray) back behind police lines, and very publically bundled roughly into a police van, which shot away. Such scenes are sobering to would-be-rioters, and would give a better demonstration of the Metropolitan Police’s avowed intention to ‘fight fire with fire’. The use of plastic projectiles (‘baton’ rounds) and water canon would be hugely useful (although, given the sporadic and highly mobile nature of the disorder, the latter less so); much of the difficulty which arises when rioters get too close to police lines and are left dominating sections of the streets could be avoided, and thus the looting and vandalism reduced.
The Metropolitan Police have been paralysed by their fear of the legal repercussions of ‘robust policing’. Since the tragic death of Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests, controversial tactics such as kettling have been met with legal challenges and courtroom battles. Whilst it is right that police should be accountable and under clear obligation to deliver measured responses to incidents, there should be latitude for police to act robustly and decisively in situations that amount to urban conflict. The great irony of our health and safety and rights obsesses culture was very much proven the on Monday night, when police restraint in deference to the aforementioned sentiment was almost certainly responsible for the far greater damage and fear in communities.
Calling the Army in now would reflect badly on the Metropolitan Police and police across the country. Two battalions of infantry, highly trained and on standby to deal with civil unrest (usually in Northern Ireland) could be deployed, and would be a shock to the rioters’ systems. However, it would give a regrettable sense of police failure to hand over the burden now. The police have publically taken these riots on; now they must deal with them, and work to restore a reputation that has been badly damaged by a gruelling year of events, from shooting rampages to allegations of corruption, and finally by the perceived failure to protect homes, livelihoods and communities from the marauding looters. All of this aside, using our own armed forces on the streets of the UK mainland to clamp down on our own citizens would be a tragic loss to the relationship between the citizenry and military of our country.
Once order is restored, then we discuss the underlying reasons. There can be no other way, else the message is sent out that, providing you have a complex enough reason, you’ll be allowed to run amok in the UK’s streets for as long as you like. The preliminary investigations can quickly cut through the ‘pure criminality’ of opportunism and barbarism. People will face the consequences of their mindless, pointless destruction. Condemnation must flood the airwaves and all the media. Anyone who breaks the social contract in a democracy can expect to have their side of
the bargain whipped away and torn up in front of them.
Then, and only then, will we be ready to tackle the painful questions of why such disorder can flare – and by that I mean the genuine anger and feeling of righteous liberation some rioters had – which will take the investigation back generations. In all riots, there is a catalyst – here it was Mark Duggan – yet to focus the investigation on that would be folly. The reasons behind any such outpouring of anger lie in successive generations of multiple deprivation and cyclic poverty; but let’s be clear: the justifications do not.
It cannot be the case that a lack of police causes violence; if that were so, then Windsor and Henley would be some of the most violent places in the country, and rural villages across the South East’s countryside would be full of the acrid smell of burning tarmac and broken water systems as the sound of the mob rung around the South Downs. But what is it, then, that stops the rest of us behaving in the manner we’ve seen on television over the last few days?
That’s what we need to find out. After the streets are made quiet again.
By Taylor Carey
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