Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of ...

Stop and Search
Home Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev w53
This is still a vexed issue amongst young people, particularly amongst young black men. The concerns of
young black men is borne out by Home Office Statistics that tend to show that young Black men are seven
times more likely to be stopped and searched on the streets than their white counterparts. The next most
searched ethnic grouping is the Asians.
We believe that stop and search is an essential tool that the police must deploy to ensure that they break the
back of gangs or the “hoodies” particularly young thugs who carry knives that have been deployed to
devastating effect and in some cases fatally. However, it appears that the stop and search must be carried
out across the board because, as the riots have vividly demonstrated, violence is not the preserve of young
black men.
Therefore, it should not be used disproportionately against young black men but against young people
generally across the racial divide and must be carried out in a respectful manner that does not breed the level
of resentment that manifested itself during the riots.
Social Issues
We found that, essentially, it would be simplistic to suggest that poverty was an excuse for what took place
during the riots. In reality, the issues were far more complex and any in-depth analysis will probably be beyond
the scope of this submission. However, there appears to be an acute sense of despondency about the future and
resentment of the affluent by some young people who participated in the riots whilst some others simply
participated for the thrill they derived from such mindless activity.
Inadequate Or Ineffective Policing
We found that, at the onset of the riots in London, it appeared from television footage that the police were
out-numbered by rioters in so far as the issue of deployment was concerned. The police at the scene were
somewhat hesitant and unsure as to what level of force they should use in the circumstances. The result was
that the rioters had the upper hand for a long period before they were tardily subdued. Regrettably, in some
instances, not before substantial amount of property were razed to the ground.
It appeared that as a result of the fall out following the method of crowd control or “kettling” adopted by
the police during the G20 demonstrations in London, the police appeared unsure on how to tackle the riots in
London. The police elsewhere in Nottingham, Birmingham and Manchester had sufficient notice and they
approached matters somewhat slightly differently.
Lack of Discipline at Home and School
We observed that there has been a blatant lack of discipline at home and an outright absence of discipline
in our schools. There seems to be a great deal of confusion on the law of what amounts to reasonable
chastisement in the home and what a teacher is permitted to do in so far as restraining errant young people in
the school. Issues of political correctness and Human Rights of the children have overwhelmed the issue of
proper discipline in the home and in the school whereby some parents are scared to chastise their children for
fear of social workers and prosecution by the state. Teachers are unclear as to their powers to discipline our
children in the school environment.
We believe, as parents, that there should not be any interference with the school regime by parents. It is
common practice for parents to invade the school to interfere with the disciplinary process, invariably
undermining the teachers’ authority. Nevertheless, the school must adopt a fair and consistent approach to
discipline and not be quick to exclude children from school when other methods of discipline can be applied.
In effect, we advocate a regime of tough love, zero tolerance, immediate and prompt sanctioning of any
misdemeanour by erring children in order to correct this attitude of impunity amongst young people.
Ironically, at the height of the riots the police were calling on the parents to call their children and ask them
to return home as it was clear that some of the children involved in the disorder were in fact very young
children, in some cases 11 year olds, roaming the streets late at night fermenting trouble.
Most importantly, we are rather concerned that morality, not in the religious sense, was not taught at school.
The morality of young people today has been eroded and is far below what is acceptable in any civilised
society such that some young people felt very justified in the manner that they happily, with sheer abandon
and without any restraint, stole from shops during the riots with some of them even stopping to check that
they had the right pair or size of shoes in looted shops.
The Role of IPCC
We accept that, in the first instance, the IPCC must take its time to carry out a careful investigation of any
shooting incident involving the police. However, this must not be at the expense of allowing, even at the very
early stage, erroneous information to permeate through the media for days without seeking to correct such
false information.