Police and Government
So let’s begin with what is deemed the ‘authority’, the people in charge of providing us with law and order and a sense of control in the society we live in. What we have seen since the riots is the typical ‘handing over the blame’ scenario that seems to take place after any major event. The government have been critical of the police handling and the police have hit back at the governments slow response. How does that help us in any way right now? What solution has that given us? The government’s much publicised and criticised proposal of cutting the police forces in the UK faced its first major test this week and promptly called for a rethink. The current governments heavy handed cuts and tax reforms are being used as a reason for the escalation in disaffection amongst the people of the country, however if you pose this to David Cameron he will happily tell you it is all the fault of the previous government, who will in turn no doubt tell you they were left with the ruins of the government before them (you see a pattern emerging here right?). Cameron talks passionately about a ‘big society’, about community, but what is he actually doing to encourage this? Is his message reaching the ones who need to hear it most or does it get lost at all the fancy black tie events?
With the police we have seen many instances where they have faced criticism for their handling of community affairs. One of my earliest memories of police negativity came during their handling of the Stephen Lawrence case and the impact this had on the perception of the police from the grass roots members of society. Another sticking point is that since 1998 there have been 338 deaths in police custody but not one officer has been convicted – for the general public that leaves a lot to be answered. Most recently we saw the controversial shooting of Mark Duggan which many have cited as the reason for the riots, the actual events of that shooting remain to be seen and could prove pivotal in what I am sure will turn into yet another lengthy, drawn out inquiry....
Look, no one is saying the police have an easy job, far from it, but their past and present conduct has left a bitter taste in many mouths and if the law enforcement of the country loses the faith of the people then you will have problems. When we saw scenes of people in Enfield and Southall coming out to protect their communities we felt a sense of pride, a feeling that we are united and standing up against what is wrong – but what message did this send out to the police and the government? Did they feel undermined or did they also feel proud that the people of this country showcased a type of togetherness which saw it through two world wars? Whatever their perception, for me it clearly highlighted that the police’s blood, sweat and courage was just not seen as enough. People wanted harder, faster responses and the police just couldn’t give them that, taking the law into their own hands was a desperate plea for more support, understanding and a sense of cohesion. These ‘protectors of the community’ were showing their frustrations at what they deemed to be a sluggish response, but I come back to my earlier point about the police not having an easy job and I take my hat off to the many men and women on the beat who had to withstand the type of barbarity we all witnessed.
Another major scapegoat for the riots was the use of the digital media services so readily available to us now. We all saw the sensationalised headlines of how social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry Messenger (BBM) were almost labelled as aiding and abetting the riots. There was even requests made to have the BBM service suspended to prevent any further communication, raising it to an almost ‘Enigma’ machine status from the Second World War. Former Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick angrily asked on Question Time why the police hadn’t been on Facebook looking at wall posts inviting people to join in the riots, why the police weren’t looking at all the Tweets and re-Tweets giving information on where everyone was heading. Now there is talk of the police being allowed to ban sites such as these and constricting the amount of freedom that they espouse. What baffles me is that do they honestly think by banning all of these social media facilities they will prevent something like this happening again? Lets go back a few years and look at the riots in Broadwater Farm, Brixton, even the race riots in Oldham and Bradford, these took place without the use of social media but still led to hundreds of people coming from different areas to join in. People have been rioting long before wireless internet became a must have so the powers that be need to stop looking for an easy route out by yet again blaming anyone but themselves.
No one likes to accept blame, but the only way forward is to stand up and admit to your mistakes – and what better way to start than the authorities taking the lead and admitting they have a lot to improve on.
No comments:
Post a Comment