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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Home Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev w67 We beg the question—are the 48% of unemployed young black people to be regarded as surplus to requirement? More generally, as Wilkinson and Pickett (2009) point out in the “Spirit Level”, 66 phenomena usually described as “social problems” (crime, social unrest, ill-health, etc) are far more common in unequal societies than ones with better economic distribution. Within the UK, it would appear that young black people are destined to be at the sharper end of the growing inequality that affects the country. Education We are aware of the prominence that education is frequently given as being the major route for social mobility/social/economic advancement. As noted above, although the experience of black children of the education system remains precarious, it is a recognition that education plays a pivotal role in the lives of black communities—in its essential aspect in fighting discrimination and establishing the Black communities in long term employment and enabling them to contribute to society. It is a recognised statistic that a number of black children, especially boys, underperform disproportionately at GCSE level even though they excel at the age of five. This situation is compounded by the high level of black pupils excluded from school. For instance, the evidence suggests that they are ten times more likely to be excluded than their white peers. The fact that there are more black males in prison than at university in England should be a cause for concern and action. Also, the disproportionate number of black students at new universities compared to the elite Russell group universities should be of concern for action. What is it that causes this decline in performance and what policy changes would ameliorate this disturbing trend? It is such questions (and others) that policy makers need to address if we are to dismantle the barriers which blight the lives of young black people. Way Forward There are no easy solutions to tackling the embedded structural inequality which engulf the lives of young black people. Possible areas of focus could include: Establishing a Young People Commission We propose the establishment of a Commission or an equivalent body to oversee the affairs of young people (16–25). The Commission would attend to all aspects of young people’s lives, including areas of structural, social, ethnic barriers, intergenerational conflict and leisure opportunities. Partnership Working with Community Organisations Regional/local priorities should include working with community based organisations in tackling marginalisation and accompanying alienation amongst young people. This should include resourcing “successful” organisations in order to assure the sustainability to deliver on their missions to create public good, as part of providing the “big society plan”. Giving Young People a Voice The need for a concerted attempt to ensure that the “voice” of young people informs aspects of policy making and practice relating to young people’s affairs eg in advancing policy and practice through establishing dialogues between young people, policy makers and practitioners via discussion forums, policy briefing, the proposed “Young people Commission” etc. September 2011 Written evidence submitted by the Association of Police Authorities The Association of Police Authorities (APA) represents police authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It has two main functions: to act as the national voice of police authorities and influence the national agenda on their behalf; and to help police authorities do their job locally through the development of guidance and advice on national policing, criminal justice and community safety related issues. Executive Summary 1. The APA welcomes the Home Affairs Select Committee (HASC) inquiry, commends the response of the police service to the unprecedented events witnessed in August and would highlight the following points: (a) Contrary to the assertion of the Home Secretary police authority members, both during and after the recent disturbances, were actively reassuring communities and supporting Chief Constables and police officers, thought out of the media spotlight. 66 Wilkinson, R, Pickett, K (2009). “The Spirit Level: Why more equal societies almost always do better”
Ev w68 Home Affairs Committee: Evidence (b) Consideration should be given to the way the IPCC and the police engage and keep informed those families who have been involved in an IPCC investigation, with a view to minimising any community tension. (c) The APA welcomes the Prime Minister’s intent (as stated on 11 August) that the Government would meet legitimate claims arising from the cost of the disturbances. The APA continues to press the Government to meet the other, extraordinary operational costs of the disturbances in full. (d) Police authorities who have been prudent with their financial management in recent years should not be penalised by being expected to meet the costs of the disturbance. (e) The APA endorses the recommendation of the HASC in 2002 that the Riot (Damages) Act should be repealed because it is out of date. Introduction 2. The Association of Police Authorities (APA) welcomes the inquiry by the HASC into the recent disturbances experienced by a number of our cities in August 2011 and the impact that this has had on policing. 3. The APA commends the response of the police service, including the professionalism of individual officers up and down the country in managing the unrest in such difficult circumstances, the support of “back office” police staff, as well as the spirit in which mutual aid was so swiftly forthcoming from across the UK at such short notice. 4. In light of the disturbances, policing numbers should be put into context: we have 140,000 police for 60 million people; this is fewer police per head of population than many other European countries. Concerns remain whether the police service could respond to such incidents in the future after cuts of up to 20% have taken effect. Community Engagement 5. The APA, as HASC will be aware, was perturbed by the Home Secretary’s assertion that police authorities were invisible and ineffective during the disturbances. We are pleased that HASC challenged the Home Secretary regarding her assertion that only by being visible is a public servant being effective. The APA letter to the Home Secretary is attached at Appendix A. 6. We are aware that the HASC will be speaking to the Chair of West Midlands Police Authority in terms of the work undertaken by WMPA during and after the disturbances. Similar activity was replicated by police authority colleagues across the country. 7. Police authorities, as with the rest of the country, were taken aback by the spread of the disturbances. As outlined below, areas where disturbances and looting took place were not in areas in which one would normally associate with community tensions. “We (Leicestershire) would say that community relations were good in all areas before, throughout and after the events. It would be difficult to categorise the disorder as an uprising from any specific community or any specific group within a community, which would tend to support our view that the violence and disorder which took place was spontaneous copy cat violence with a view to thrill seeking or personal gain. In as much as this is the case it is different from previous public disorder where there had generally been an identifiable common trigger point or cause.” 8. HASC may also want to consider how the IPCC and police forces and authorities can best work together to manage risks arising from potentially controversial investigations. Feedback suggests that the lack of response from the IPCC and the police to a peaceful vigil following the death of Mark Duggan; was alleged to be a key factor in initiating the recent disorder. Media reports suggested that the police felt they could not speak to the family before the IPCC had. The IPCC and police must of course be independent of each other, but they must both be aware that their actions can have an impact on levels of community tension. We believe that there may be lessons to be learnt about how the police and IPCC relate to the families of those who are the subjects of IPCC investigations. Scrutiny 9. HASC will be aware of the Metropolitan Police Authority’s work regarding their scrutiny of public order policing in London following the G20 demonstrations. 67 10. The HASC may wish to be aware of similar work undertaken in other areas as highlighted below. “In October 2010 the City of Leicester was the venue for a large EDL protest. Several lessons in respect of command and control were carried forward from that protest and were contributory elements to a more effective command and control process when dealing with the more recent disorder.” “GMPA recently undertook a comprehensive scrutiny review of major events policing in Greater Manchester. Whilst this did not specifically encompass the policing of riots, it did identify significant 67 www.mpa.gov.uk/downloads/scrutinites/g20.pdf
Page 1 and 2:
House of Commons Home Affairs Commi
Page 3 and 4:
List of additional written evidence
Page 5 and 6:
Ev w2 Home Affairs Committee: Evide
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Ev w10 Home Affairs Committee: Evid
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20: Ev w16 Home Affairs Committee: Evid
Page 69: Ev w66 Home Affairs Committee: Evid
Page 85: Ev w82 Home Affairs Committee: Evid
show all

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?