The Thin Blue Line
At first sight it might appear that just six policemen against a much larger mob in Catford wouldn’t have stood much chance in protecting stores from being looted. But the line held as the BBC reports. Here’s a bit of detail.
A police officer has described how he and five colleagues, armed only with two shields, defended a retail park from a gang of up to 50 hooded youths.
PC Gordon Murphy, 30, said despite their lack of numbers, officers charged at the mob who were trying to loot the stores in Catford, south-east London.
He said: “We decided, as they ran at us, to rush back at them, with only six officers running back at 40.
“The mad thing is, they all ran back so we didn’t even have to make contact.”
It’s all a bit far from a similar situation, I heard of years ago from a British Colonial policeman, who faced up to rioters somewhere in Africa. He said you just identified the ring-leaders and shot them dead.
I suppose that the youths in Catford, had all the courage of mice and felt that running was the best defence.
I think in some ways this story is in a way a return to old-fashioned policing, where police often stood their ground and didn’t call for massive backup.
One of my abiding memories of Liverpool is that on public order duties most Northern Police Sergeants carried long batons, when trouble was expected. They weren’t afraid to use them either. I may have seen them deployed but I never saw one used.
Another policeman in London once told me that the worst thing they ever did for policing was give officers a personal radio. Without these they had to sort the problem out, but with them they always called for backup.
No Water Cannons or Rubber Bullets, But What About Smart Water Bombs?
Water cannons and rubber bullets, which have been called for by many commentators will only inflame the situation.
But what about plastic bags loaded with smart water! The chemicals in them make them absolutely traceable, so anybody with a particular chemical signature is immediately placed where the bomb was dropped on the protestors.
Once the rioters knew what was in the bombs, they might take the correct action and go home to bed!
Are The Riots Are The Girls Fault?
In all the pictures of the London riots there seem to be few women about except for victims.
But then how many self-respecting young ladies would want to be seen with the morons doing the damage?
So the calming influence that women generally bring to these situations isn’t there!
But then they have got much better things to do!
Wombles To The Rescue
This method was used in Vancouver to clean up after their riots. Here’s some details.
The Story of George
In the 1960s, I use to serve behind the bar in a pub called The Merryhills in Oakwood. It was one of the vacation jobs I did to fund my way through University.
Although it was a leafy suburb and still is, the pub was only half-genteel. The Saloon Bar was comfortable and had a nice class of client. But the Public Bar was a different story and there was sometimes an edginess. I remember one night, sorting out a fight, by breaking a bottle of Guinness on the bar and jumping over the counter. They didn’t want to take me on, but then we all knew that Mick the large Irish barman was coming round by the easy route with the landlord’s Alsatian.
But it is the story of George I remember.
On a quiet Monday, I found myself talking for most of the evening to a guy called George, who had been in my year at primary school. I said to him, that at school, I thought he might have been a bit rough and that now he seemed to have calmed down. He said that he had. But it hadn’t always been so and a couple of years before he’d been up in court on a charge of vandalism. The magistrate had said that he deserved Borstall, but also said that he had a mate who owned a demolition firm, who was in need of men, who liked to smash things up. If he’d take the job, the magistrate said he’d forget the Borstal.
George had worked in demolition for some months and hadn’t been in trouble since.
Perhaps there is a moral here, in that we’ve now made employment so safe, it just doesn’t appeal to a certain class of youth!
I suspect too, that magistrates can’t recruit workers for their friends!
I was Sixteen Once
I’m 64 next week, but all of the mindless violence of the last few days rings a bell in my mind.
I have a feeling that life has now become so constrained for the average male youth, that we are now getting the problems we are seeing on the streets.
In some ways it was a bit like that in the early sixties. We didn’t get the violence, but then of course we had Mods and Rockers. I didn’t get involved one way or other, as I had other things to do and I didn’t have a motorcyle licence.
But just as then, the Police and politicians didn’t have a clue. They don’t now!
In the seventies and eighties, it was all about football violence.
So is the cause of the last three days, just an outlet for testosterone. I bet one of these rioters goes on to in twenty years or so, to be a leader of a main political party or to run a large company like Tesco.
The problem is to channel this testosterone and the anger that goes with it!
The £1,000,000 Junction
I like this. It gives motorists more of their favourite pastime to enjoy; moaning about the cost of motoring.
Sunday Parking Protests
There seems to be a lot of protests about charging for parking in Westminster on Sundays.
Why not? After all quite a few UK cities charge.
Anyway, one of the reasons people buy a car seems to be so that they can moan about fuel prices, parking charges, Congestion Charges, insurance and tax. I don’t have to worry about any of these things now!
According to the AA, if I had a £20,000 diesel car doing 10,000 miles a year that would cost me £6081 or thereabouts. In addition, if I invested the money on Zopa at six percent, that would give me another £1200. That gives me £140 a week to spend on black cabs and trains to take me outside of London.
Hackney WickED
It was the Hackney WickED Festival this weekend and I went to see some of the artists, who were having an Open Studios in the area.
It was well worth it.
Afterwards I walked past the locks at Old Ford.
Old Ford Locks
And then under the Northern Outfall Sewer on a newly restored towpath on to the Olympic Park.
Sunday on the Greenway
It was good to see so many people about on the Greenway.
Amazingly, the blackberries were out and people were picking and eating them.
The Anonymous Widower 