Sky’s coverage :lol:
Never before have I heard such gratuitous use of the word wanton or such wanton use of the word gratuitous
:lol:
This is a wonderful chance to improve Birmingham’s city centre in the same way that the IRA bomb in 1996 proved such a great benefit for Manchester.
This is brilliant.
The clip of the scrawny white lad in the cast goading the line of cops is gas.
and he’s clearly off his tits.
the clip of the fire in the furniture store in croydon is unreal.
They’ve broken into a bank over there now. Finally getting their priorities in order.
I’d firmly support this type of violence against banks, other financial services and their employees, but bookies and a furniture store? FFS.
Boris Johnson is cutting short his holidays and will sort it out.
They were talking about the Broadwater Farm riots in the 80’s earlier.
Some copper was hacked to death during those riots.
Panic on the streets of London…
Panic on the streets of Birmingham…
Mob rule. What a shit headline. Something like Croydon degeneration project
Recession. Tory Government. Royal Wedding. Riots. King Kenny back at Anfield. It’s like 1981 all over again.
In rolls a riot van
And sparks excitement in the boys
But the policemen look annoyed
Perhaps these are ones they should avoid
Got a chase last night
From men with truncheons dressed in hats
We didn’t do that much wrong
Still ran away though for the laugh
Just for the laugh
And please just stop talking
Cause they won’t find us if you do
Oh those silly boys in blue
Well they won’t catch me and you
Have you been drinking, son
You don’t look old enough to me
I’m sorry, officer
Is there a certain age you’re supposed to be
Cause nobody told me
And up rolls the riot van
And these lads just wind the coppers up
They ask why they don’t catch proper crooks
They get their address and their names took
But they couldn’t care less
Thrown in a riot van
And all the coppers kicked him in
And there was no way he could win
Just had to take it on the chin
:lol:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/15/theresa-may-cut-police-budget-without-violent-unrest
Theresa May: We can cut police budget without risking violent unrest
Home secretary calls for rational debate over spending cuts and rejects police prediction of a ‘Christmas for criminals’
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 September 2010 11.55 BST
Article history
The home secretary, Theresa May. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/WPA Pool/Getty Images
The home secretary, Theresa May, has dismissed fears that deep spending cuts could undermine the ability of the police to tackle possible civil unrest, and insisted the British did not respond to austerity by rioting on the streets.
May told the police superintendents’ annual conference that it was “ridiculous” to suggest savings could not be made in policing, and went on to challenge the political orthodoxy that fewer officers would inevitably mean more crime. The home secretary pointed out that around the world significant falls in crime had happened alongside stable or even falling police numbers.
May was responding to a warning from the Superintendents’ Association president, Derek Barnett, that severe spending cuts could undermine their ability to cope with rising social and industrial tensions as a result of the government’s austerity package. Her speech also follows alarming predictions from the Police Federation that up to 40,000 police staff jobs could be lost as a result of a 25% cut, opening the way for a “Christmas for criminals”.
May told the police: “The British public don’t simply resort to violent unrest in the face of challenging economic circumstances. We must have a rational and reasonable debate about policing. Your association has a long and proud history of constructive and sensible contributions to policing policy-making – long may it continue.”
She said it was important to pre-judge the outcome of the spending review to be announced on 20 October: "Budgets will be tight across the whole of the public sector but is just pure speculation to start guessing at the final settlement.
“I will work hard to ensure a fair deal for policing but there will, most definitely, need to be savings made. It is ridiculous to suggest that there are not savings that can be made in policing. And lower budgets do not automatically have to mean lower police numbers,” she said, adding that procurement, operational support and back office roles rather than the frontline would be first in line for cuts.
The home secretary tried to reassure the police that the cuts, to be agreed over the next few weeks, would be achievable and would not be imposed overnight.
“You will have an entire five-year parliament over which to make these changes happen but you must make them happen. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary have said that £1bn could be saved without reducing police availability. In this economic environment, I am clear that the police service can make savings by finding new and more cost-effective ways to do business.”
She said there were more police officers than ever before – 142,000 in England and Wales – but that perceptions of crime had never been higher.
“But in many forces in the UK and in many countries around the world, we have seen significant reductions in crime alongside stable or even falling police numbers. Look at the example of the New York police department where they have managed to cut crime at the same time as reducing the number of officers from 41,000 to 35,000.”
May said management and leadership was more important in determining the effectiveness of a police force than the absolute number of officers.
It’s all Twitters fault
Is technology to blame for the London riots?
By Iain Mackenzie Technology reporter, BBC News
London Riots
Did social media and mobile telecommunications fuel this weekend’s violence in London?
A number of politicians, media commentators and members of the police force have suggested that Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger, in particular, had a role to play.
Undoubtedly, some of those involved chose to chronicle their exploits live - from the midst of the action - using mobile phones.
A few were apparently even foolish enough to upload pictures of themselves posing proudly with their looted haul.
Others offered suggestions for where might be good to attack next, leading the Met’s deputy assistant commissioner, Steve Kavanagh to say he would consider arresting Twitter users who appeared to incite violence.
But some experts fear the extent to which technology is to blame may have been overstated.
Misquoted
In its coverage, the Daily Mail quoted one tweeter, AshleysAR as follows: “Ashley AR’ tweeted: 'I hear Tottenham’s going coco-bananas right now. Watch me roll.”
However, AshleysAR’s full, unedited quote on Twitter reads: “I hear Tottenham’s going coco-bananas right now. Watch me roll up with a spud gun :|”.
Suddenly the tone of the message becomes markedly less sinister. Ashley later threatens to join in with a water pistol.
Despite the claim of Tottenham MP David Lammy that the riots were “organised on Twitter”, there is little evidence of their orchestration on the site’s public feeds.
Looking back through Saturday night’s postings, DanielNothing’s stream offers some promise of substantiating the theory with his comment: “Heading to Tottenham to join the riot! who’s with me? #ANARCHY”.
But it is followed soon after by: “Hang on, that last tweet should’ve read ‘Curling up on the sofa with an Avengers DVD and my missus, who’s with me?’ What a klutz I am!”
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/54488000/jpg/_54488343_108184153.jpg BlackBerry’s BBM requires users authenticate their contacts with a PIN
Another user - Official Grinz - appears to have been the first person to tweet the words “Westfield riot”, referring to the west London shopping centre. Although his message seems to be tongue in cheek and there is nothing to suggest that he was more than observer, commenting on events as they unfolded on television.
The subject of a Westfield riot became widely discussed, but ultimately failed to materialise in the real world.
So why is the ratio of apparent incitement to action so low?
Freddie Benjamin, a research manager at Mobile Youth, believes that much of the online noise is just that.
“Once someone starts posting on a BBM group or Twitter, a lot of young people try to follow the trend,” he told BBC News.
“They might not join the actual event, but they might talk about it or use the same hashtag which makes it sound like there is a lot more volume.”
Such postings build what Mr Benjamin refers to as “social currency”, elevating the messenger’s sense of belonging to a group.
Private business
Away from Twitter’s very visible feeds, there are perhaps more credible reports that rioters were using private communication systems to encourage others to join the disorder.
Following Saturday’s trouble in Tottenham, a number of BlackBerry users reported receiving instant messages that suggested future riot locations.
BlackBerry’s BBM system is known to be the preferred means of communication among many younger people.
Users are invited to join each other’s contacts list using a unique PIN, although once they have done so, messages can be distributed to large groups.
BBM is both private and secure, partly due to the phones’ roots as business communication devices.
For that reason it is hard to evaluate how much information was coming out of the riots or how many people were suggesting alternative targets.
But despite the closed nature of BlackBerry Messenger, police may still have a chance to examine some of the communications that took place.
Research in Motion, which makes Blackberry phones, issued a statement in which it promised to work with the authorities.
It pointed out that, like other telecoms companies, it complies with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) which allows law enforcement to gain access to private messages when they relate to the commission of a crime.
Recruiting tool
What will concern investigators most is the extent to which recipients acted on any messages sent out.
Dr Chris Greer, a senior lecturer in sociology and criminology at London’s City University believes that smartphones will have aided those involved, but are unlikely to have persuaded reluctant recruits to join the rioting.
“I don’t think it is having any impact on the motivation to protest in the first place,” he said.
“But once people have mobilised themselves and decided to take to the streets it is certainly much easier to communicate with each other.”
Dr Greer pointed to the example of the 2009 G20 riots in London.
A report into the police handling of the protests, produced by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary (HMRC) found that technology had aided the rioters more than the police, he explained.
“Their methods of communicating with each other or pointing out where the police were at any given time and therefore where the protesters shouldn’t be, and basically organising themselves was so much more sophisticated than the police.”
It may turn out, after a more careful examination of the various messages being pinged around, that this was indeed a social networking crime spree.
The Met has indicated it is ready to act on any information it finds.
But that will take time and a more methodical study.
The extent to which investigators are able to sift out genuine rioters from the internet ‘echo chamber’ and then bring real world prosecutions will provide valuable lessons, both about the use and abuse of technology, and also law enforcement’s capacity to deal with it.
Operation Motorman is what’s needed now. Crush these looters I say.
FFS is right sid, as if these boys would be targetting banks! I’d say they’re very concerned about the global financial system alright. They are targetting things they want to steal as well as just burning places for the fuck of it.
This eejit will hopefully get a slap when he asks the wrong person whether they are proud of what they’re doing.