I just saw Sir Alan Sugar being interviewed on TV, being asked his thoughts on the rioting.
One of the key points he made struck a chord with me.
Sir Alan voiced concern that the police would, once again, be made scapegoats for the way in which the violence has been handled. He stated that he had a lot of sympathy for the police.
I agree 100% with his concerns. It has happened time and time again where the police are involved in trying to keep the peace, protect the public and their property and so on. Then as soon as the risks have diminished the police become the subject of enquiries into their heavy-handed approach or their mis-handling of the situation. The violence of the last few days is outside of what constitutes their normal remit. These are extreme situations which require extreme responses. The problem is that the hands of the police are tied firmly by the law of this land but the thugs & thieves are not abiding by those same laws. So they, the thugs, can attack the public and the police with scaffold poles, bricks and bottles or anything else they can lay their hands on. The police are restricted to using the tools issued to them. Tools, which for the most part are inadequate for dealing with the situations that they have encountered throughout the weekend. Many of the officers on duty have entered the zones of violence have done so without riot gear. The risk to them is simply unacceptable.
It cannot be acceptable that we can penalise our police for meeting force with force. And if, on occasions, the miscreants are the ones that come off worst then so be it
WrAnTz 