Interesting couple of days for the Met, unfortunately for them they weren’t fighting a riot in the traditional sense as witnessed annually during the marching season in Belfast with large groups of angry men venting their anger against police lines and vehicles. This group was built around small numbers of highly mobile rioters drawing in police resources whilst their buddies (using smart phones etc.) went off to loot undefended stores elsewhere. 6000 coppers on night one couldn’t be everywhere at once in a city the size of London, now they have 16000 on the streets resulting in minimal trouble. Other forces have learnt and are deploying flying squads able to deploy more rapidly in smaller numbers at speed driven by C&C centre controllers.
It’s quieter in London, the rioters and looters are shifting to Manchester and Birmingham, among other locations. Wonder where the London police got their reinforcements from?
Regards use of lethal force; the UK remains committed to using the minimum amount commensurate to the threat. Most police officers would like to wade in and give the looters a damn good hiding, unfortunately they are well aware a TV camera will be lurking recording footage ready for the liberal elite to drool over and claim police brutality. The MO is to contain, observe and arrest out of video shot unless life is directly threatened.
Ah, lawfare. A lot of people are probably wishing that the police could direct the looters into the neighborhoods where the liberal elite lives for a little RL&B, might change so attitudes.
Old joke – {Q} Where do you find a rabid conservative? {A} Look for a liberal who has just been mugged. :hul
“The BBC has received 250 complaints about its coverage of the riots. Complaints range from accusations of bias against the police, giving too much coverage of the developing riots and that the BBC used the word "protesters" rather than "rioters".”
If they do decide to use lethal force I would recommend snipers from rooftops and other elevated positions, from the ground all you can see are the peons. Ignore the guys with clubs and rocks, or looters, and concentrate on the bomb throwers/arsonists and any real leadership, if they can identify it. :sniper
Water cannons are not a realistic option for London, streets are narrow and the crowd was not concentrated in large numbers in one place determined to take on the police head-on. Baton rounds are an option though, but you have to be very careful you don’t hit an innocent bystander and they have a nasty habit of ricocheting off the ground and can do real damage to flesh and bone. Length of handheld baton shouldn’t be a factor, you can cause a great deal of pain with a small expandable version if trained in appropriate PPT.
Most of the rioters now appear looters and try to avoid confrontations with the police. In the beginning the rioters were routing platoon size and greater police lines. Water cannon would have worked well then.
Baton rounds are a generic term for a variety of types. The soft nosed ones can be fired directly and don’t ricochet much. The harder wood baton rounds have to be bounced off the ground before hitting the targets for safety, and are supposed to used against the legs. And both have a MINIMUM safe range.
Pepper balls are generally safer than baton rounds.
The military will not be used on mainland Britain unless we witness a total breakdown in law and order. There are over 120,000 serving police officers to draw upon before the reserve battalion will be deployed, more likely to see the PSNI come over to mainland UK.
Personally all looters should be shot on sight.
Military units can be very effective is some riot situations. The Los Angeles riots ended very quickly after the National Guard units arrived, helped in large by complaints in the Press from arrested looters that the National Guard
fired back when fired upon! Apparently the cops would just hunker down and called for backup when the looters let off a couple rounds. :ar15
