The Facebook Two
Two men have been given substantial prison sentences for trying to organise a riot in Chester by using Facebook. as the BBC reports here. But they must have been two of worst riot organisers in history as no-one turned up.
Perhaps, the good people of Cheshire, have more morals, than these two have common sense.
You don’t send people to prison for this type of crime, especially when it would appear that nothing got damaged and no-one got hurt.
What they need is some form of creative community punishment. Perhaps, there is a derelict site that could be converted into a garden! Or some coal that needs painting white!
One is certainly appealing, and I’ll be very surprised if the sentence stands.
Is This A Coincidence?
Something called X-Factor starts next week. Is this why so many televisions were nicked last week?
Why We Should Consult Bill Bratton
It is being reported that David Cameron is to consult Bill Bratton, the former Boston, New York and Los Angeles Police Chief.
And so we should!
When you have a serious problem, you should consult with anybody who might have some serious input. Some of these might not be obvious and many will not share your views.
All of my life I have been a scientific or engineering researcher. If anybody was an expert in what I was looking at, I would seek them out and discuss my problem with them. It often paid huge dividends.
The trouble is that too many people, and especially politicians, think totally inside the box. The only reason for having boxes in thinking, is to store good ideas, that might be of use later, but are quite inappropriate at the present time.
So who else should David Cameron consult about the riots?
Let’s start with Terence Conran, Norman Foster, Danny Baker, David Attenborough, Dan Snow, Stephen Bayley, Rio Ferdinand, Jo Hussain and Joey Barton.
Carry On Cutting
This is another heartening story.
Let’s hope, when the damage is all repaired, that this sort of spirit continues!
The Heroes Start to Emerge
Now that things are starting to calm down, the real heroes of the riots are starting to emerge.
There can be none, who deserves to be called a hero, than Tariq Jahan. Read about him in the Guardian.
How many of us could behave in such a courageous and forgiving manner after their son had been murdered?
Not many I would say!
The Statistics Are Starting To Be Published
This page from the BBC shows how statistics are starting to yield answers.
Let’s hope they analyse them in detail and publish both the data and all the results. I doubt that we’ll see them as an Excel spreadsheet. I would love to analyse that with Daisy.
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.
Violent Young Men Will Always Be With Us
David Aaronovitch in The Times today has a powerful and sensible piece.
He argues that young men will always push the limits.
Here’s the last paragraph.
Because, yes, we have been here before, with a relatively small number of young men, high on violence and low on personal skills, finding a way to drive the rest of us mad. This analysis is both gloomy and hopeful. It suggests that, short of a world war to send them to, difficult and violent young men will always be with us. The numbers matter, of course, and we can and should whittle away at them with firmness. But we won’t eradicate them altogether, and if improvement is always slow and adapting difficult, we can — of course — make things worse quickly, by reacting with impatience, prejudice and stupidity.
As he says, all of our responses must be measured. But I doubt they will be.
Ken Calls For Water Cannon
Ken Livingstone has called for water cannon to control rioters. How very progressive!
Let’s Get Scientifically Correct About These Riots
Everybody is making all sorts of statements about the riots. Many of them are based on idle speculation or entrenched views and quite a few are racist.
We need to have scientifically correct facts.
Let’s start with a database of all the arrests, where suspects are listed. Perhaps a database could contain the following data for each arrest.
- Sex
- Age Range – say 15-24, 25-34 etc.
- Ethnicity
- Education Level
- Suspected Crime
- Post Code of Crime
- Employment Status
- Relationship Status
- Housing Status
- Distance between Crime and Place of Abode
Only when we properly analyse data like this can we make appropriate judgements.
If you think this is all very cloud-cuckoo thinking, I know that the Metropolitan Police have analysed all vehicles stops, where the vehicle was missing one of excise duty, insurance or MOT. The results were interesting and have been used to modify police methods to cut crime.
The Anonymous Widower 