The thin blue line is still holding on….just

Chris Hobbs reflects on a week of serious disorder and hears from officers in Tamworth who faced a sustained attack.

The footage of the Tamworth riot on ‘X’ showed a serial of officers who appeared to be just around the corner to where the arson attack on the hotel was being carried out and I assumed that they couldn’t actually see what was going on. I was wrong. In fact, they were coming under a sustained attack from a mob and couldn’t move.

I was told that one of the sergeants was struck on the head and body and ended up in hospital. His condition caused the doctors some anxiety but happily he has been given an all clear although his arm, whilst not broken has somehow developed ‘a curve.’

Other officers, guarding an ambulance at a Tamworth rendezvous point were suddenly attacked by a large mob who threatened to overrun them. Whilst pepper spray and tasers are supposedly not to be used during public order situations, the appearance of these would seem to have saved the day and prevented serious injuries or worse.

In another incident, officers who had managed to get into a foyer of the hotel found themselves soaked in petrol which had been thrown through a broken window. At around the same time they had been told that thugs with petrol bombs were roaming around outside.

The complexities of police forces providing assistance to other forces was illustrated by the fact that two ‘serials’ of officers totalling around 40 plus were, at the time of the Tamworth disorder, in Yorkshire assisting hard pressed South Yorkshire police colleagues.

Protect our police

Another factor has to be how to keep those wishing to harm police at a distance. We saw the frequent use of long shields; useful as I remember from my experience of riots, but these enable rioters to get close to the police line and throw heavy objects at the shields or kick and punch at them. Protesters are far more willing to do that now than in my day.

Policing in Ireland in based on similar principles to the UK with unarmed officers and ‘policing by consent.’ However, they are now equipped with large cans of ‘public order’ pepper spray for use in public order situations where there is serious disorder. It keeps those who would harm police at a distance.

Ex-Chief Superintendent Kevin Hurley suggests ‘indexed marker’ solutions by which individuals could be identified later after being sprayed during any disorder.

Other options being debated would be water-cannon; not deemed suitable for the city streets but seem to be deemed useful by most continental police forces and baton rounds which would be hugely controversial and any use would have the  Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPCC) looking at each inevitable complaint after their use.

The IOPC is, however, another issue with officers bitterly complaining that they are reluctant to use batons to defend themselves because of possible scrutiny by the IOPC.

Thankfully, with grit, courage and determination, that thin blue line is still holding on….just.

In sharp contrast I attended on Saturday  a pro-Palestine rally in Whitehall. The protest and counter pro-Israeli protest saw just one arrest of a man who gave a Nazi salute. When the pro-Palestinian march passed the static Israeli gathering there was the usual exchange of insults but, apart from the salute, nothing untoward.

Nevertheless with disorder sparking in Manchester and Liverpool, Met officers anticipated being retained on duty until late into the evening in case they were needed in London or in response to appeals from other forces.

The rally on Wednesday opposite Downing Street saw far-right (we’re not far-right we’re just right) protesters gather, ignore the conditions imposed and throw missiles at the police seemingly unaware that Whitehall is awash with CCTV cameras which, together with the officer’s own body worn camera footage, enabled offenders to be identified.

‘Snatch squads’ of officers then waded into the ‘kettled’ crowds and removed offenders which resulted in cries of ‘foul’ from those on the far-right who alleged people were being hauled out for ‘nothing.’

On the same evening there was disorder in Hartlepool with police having to be deployed to protect a local Mosque

One discussion prevalent on that Wednesday night in Whitehall was whether the disorder would spread as it did in 2011. Urged on by social media, which was not as prevalent in 2011 as now, the answer appears to be yes.

The footage, of a police liaison officer in Stoke telling a group to return to the adjacent Mosque and deposit any weapons they may have had in the building, drew intense criticism from the far-right and from police circles.

I initially just saw that brief ‘moment in time,’ clip and was concerned but later returned to the full footage and looked at the circumstances. The officer was Asian and may indeed be Muslim. He was accompanied by a female officer and would have been aware that his colleagues were in ‘riot gear’ and had come under attack elsewhere in Stoke and Tamworth. He would also be aware that he may not have been able to obtain assistance if he and his colleague had found themselves in difficulties.

The dense crowd’s mood appeared to be ‘on the turn’ as they doubtless were aware of the situation elsewhere in Stoke and the Islamophobic chants that accompanied the disorder. Clearly there was no chance of the officer and his female colleague lining everyone up and searching them individually and it would appear there was no indication that any of the Muslim males were in possession of weapons.

The officer frankly, didn’t have many cards to play; his own safety and that of his colleague, given the situation, was also at some risk.

The question now is what next? Next weekend will be crucial and the mutual aid situation may be complicated by forces being reluctant to release their own officers. Equally, those on the right or left could organise a major protest in central London which the other side might oppose.

Another factor is, as with the situation in Stoke, Muslim youths and young men beginning to take to the streets to protect their Mosques and businesses. In Bolton 300 Muslim youths attempted to confront those from the far-right and we again saw some adroit policing. Already there have been false social media posts in respect of stabbings. At the time of writing groups of masked Asian youths can be seen in Birmingham.

In Plymouth there was more disorder as those aligned to the far-right attacked police and attempted to break through police lines in order to ‘get at’ rival anti-racist protesters.

Devon and Cornwall police made six arrests, saw several of its officers suffer minor injuries and reported that two members of the public were taken to hospital.

Once again, distorted social media footage appeared which showed a protester ending up flat on his back after being pushed by a police officer using his long shield. The officer was vigorously defended by the force’s Police and Crime Commissioner who pointed out that the individual had been causing problems prior to the incident.

In Birmingham large crowds of Muslim youths and men began congregating in the Bordesley Green area of the city due to rumours that the ‘EDL’ would be entering the area. This posed a dilemma for the West Midlands police, Gold and Silver commanders. If they moved to disperse an angry crowd, that could trigger a riot which could escalate into race riots as word spread with the possibility of far-right groups being drawn to the area. Those Commanders would probably have been aware that there was no planned incursion of the ‘EDL’ thus the decision appears to have been for a low- profile approach to the gathering.

The downside would be criticism that this approach was another example of two-tier policing and so it proved. As far as can be ascertained from intermittent live coverage, there were several minor incidents. One involved a car that had to force its way through a crowd and cross a grass verge; another involved a television journalist and crew being intimidated while a third saw a pub being attacked. The BBC also reported passing cars being damaged.

It would seem that a youth emerged from the pub and hurled insults at the crowd. The result was some sort of attack on the pub resulting in broken windows. Police in ‘riot gear’ promptly responded and could be seen outside the pub which closed for the day. The gathering itself morphed into a ‘free Palestine’ event with no further reported issues.

One crucial factor will now be how quickly those already arrested can be brought before the courts. Exemplary sentences may cool the ardour of potential rioters.

Another will be the inevitable post-incident investigations, arrests, court appearances and again, exemplary sentences.

In 2011, the Met’s ‘super recognisers’ secured a number of convictions of rioters. In 2015 there were 140; there may be more…..or less now. In any event, past and present super recognisers could be invaluable in securing convictions and, if London has no major public order incidents they could perhaps be ‘loaned’ to other forces.

Another potential tool in the police armoury is the developing ‘facial recognition’ technology together with artificial intelligence. A brief dalliance with Google suggests that mask wearers can still be identified which may not be good news for those who believed that their acts of violence would effectively be anonymous.

One partial solution might be to utilise retired, experienced detectives and many of these can be found employed by reputable private security companies. This will cost money, but if the Home Secretary is rightly prepared to devote significant sums of cash to bolster the defence of mosques, hopefully the same will apply to costs arising from post-incident riot investigations.

Category: OpsPublic Order