Prime Minister deploys 16000 cops to quell riots

Emdad Rahman:: Prime Minister David Cameron recalled Parliament from its summer recess to deal with the crisis touched off by rioting in London. Mr Cameron described the scenes of chaos in several other British cities as “sickening.” However, he refrained from ordering more extreme anti-rioting measures, such as calling in the military to help the beleaguered police restore order.

The Prime Minister has cancelled annual leave for Police and has promised to bring in reinforcements from around the country. He said 450 arrests had been made so far, and promised many more if the looting continued. “I am determined, the government is determined, to see justice done,” he said in a televised news conference. In London, groups of young people rampaged setting buildings, vehicles and garbage dumps alight, looting stores and pelting police officers with bottles and fireworks.

At one point, the London fire brigade said it was running out of vehicles to tackle fires started by the rioters and police said they had called in 1 700 reinforcements to help London police cope with fast-moving groups of looters. Police called in hundreds of reinforcements and volunteer police officers_ and made a rare decision to deploy armoured vehicles in some of the worst-hit districts – but still struggled to keep pace with the chaos unfolding at flashpoints across London, in Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool. “The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable.

Ordinary people have had their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery,” police commander Christine Jones said. London’s police said 14 people were injured, including a man in his 60s with life threatening injuries. The riots appeared to have little unifying cause – though some involved claimed to oppose sharp government spending cuts, which will slash welfare payments and cut tens of thousands of public sector jobs through 2015.

The crisis is a major test for Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition government, which includes Liberal Democrats who had long suspected its program of harsh budget restraints could provoke popular dissent. Government officials branded the rioters criminals and said the violence would have no effect on preparations for the 2012 London Olympic Games – though television images of blazing buildings and rioting were likely to dent the capital’s image.

“It was needless, opportunistic theft and violence, nothing more, nothing less. It is completely unacceptable,” said Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

Cameron has resisted calls to slow the rate at which he is cutting the budget deficit in order to lessen the impact on youth services and other facilities. He was likely to come under new pressure to do more for poor districts of the capital.

The first riots broke out on Saturday in London’s northern Tottenham district, when a peaceful protest over the police shooting of a suspect two days earlier was followed by outbreaks of looting.

Further disturbances followed on Sunday, and on Monday, emboldened by the inability of the police to concentrate their forces in every trouble spot, looting spread rapidly. Boris Jonhson, Mayor of London, has made a further statement following the incidents in London. “I was watching the TV news in the Canadian town of Calgary last night as I waited to catch a plane, and as the images of a blazing London filled the screen I felt a series of emotions. “In less than 12 months we will welcome the world to a great summer games in the greatest city on earth – and by then we must all hope that we will look back on these events as a bad dream.It can be done. But it will be hard, and we will have our work cut out. To all those who have suffered the destruction of their property, and to all those who have been terrified by rioting youths, I can only say how sorry I am and how heartbroken I am by the losses they have suffered. “Together with colleagues I will today be going to some of the worst affected areas and talking to residents. I will have one overriding message: that London can and must come back from this. “We will repair every shop. We will rebuild every damaged area. We will accelerate initiatives already underway to stimulate growth and enterprise in areas such as Croydon and Tottenham. “We will redouble out efforts to deal with the root causes of the alienation of young people. We must tackle the illiteracy of the Under 11s, and through Team London we are recruiting more volunteers to help kids who are falling behind. “We have already helped to sponsor 30,000 apprenticeships. We need to take it up to 100,000. We have recruited 1700 black male mentors for some of the most difficult boys. We need to get up to 3000.Above all, we need to rebuild trust between the police and the community.

Huge progress has been made in the last ten years, but more needs to be done, especially in the recruitment of black and other minority ethnic officers. “We can make that progress, and we can repair the damage that has been done both at home and abroad. But first this madness must stop.”Operation Withern is investigating the serious disorder and violence that has been affecting parts of London and have released the first of many images of suspects. Commander Simon Foy said: “Operation Withern is continuing apace. As well as the many arrests and charges the team is working hard to identify suspects. “Those who have or intend to go out and commit violent, criminal acts should be warned. We will have photographs and evidence that we will use to identify you and bring you to justice.

“Today we are releasing the first of many, many images of people we will be speaking to in connection with the scenes of violence. “We will not tolerate the violence that has been seen in parts of London.”Flickr will host the photos so that the public have as many opportunities as possible to help the Met identify those who committed violent and criminal acts on London’s streets. If anyone recognises individuals in the photographs or has any information about the violence and disorder that has occurred they should contact the Major Investigation Team on 020 8345 4142. Alternatively anyone can report crime and provide information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Operation Withern includes officers from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command, specialist investigators from the Public Order Branch as well as police support staff. The Major Investigation Team has begun and will continue securing the various and often large crime scenes, retrieving forensics and going through thousands of hours of CCTV. This will be a long term operation although work is already underway to identify those individuals responsible. http://www.met.police.uk/rioterswanted/