Reflections on misinformation, riots and courage in policing.

Those front- line officers are only too well aware that there is a tsunami of evil out there that could overwhelm this country to an extent that would dwarf the nightmare of the disorder seen in 2011. Cracks are clearly visible in the thin blue line that is still holding on…..just.”

Former Metropolitan Police Officer Chris Hobbs writes in the Havering Daily on the recent events taking place on our streets.

‘My original draft for this article began with, ‘It was a pleasant evening in Whitehall’ and referred to the pro-Palestinian march and counter-protest.

However, during Sunday, like so many, I was watching in horror as we were shown events in Rotherham and Tamworth as a mobs ran riot and made determined attempts to set two hotels on fire knowing that in all probability there would be guests, including asylum seekers, and staff inside.

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.

Saturday’s relatively uneventful public order events.  

So, we return to that pleasant Saturday summer’s evening in Whitehall as the witching hour for the pro-Palestine rally approached and police moved amongst a group who were chanting and singing accompanied by drums and other instruments. The speeches had long finished and the atmosphere was tranquil. 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.

However, many of us observing the event were only too well aware that the situation was not as calm elsewhere. We, who were there to observe the protest in one capacity or another, began to hear of disorder in Manchester and Liverpool. Met officers anticipated being retained on duty until late into the evening in the case of disorder elsewhere be it in London or in response to appeals from other forces.

A sad inevitability.

Again, we, the above-mentioned observers, all felt that this period of disorder was going to occur sooner or later. Far-right social media had become increasingly vitriolic both in terms of the police (two-tier policing) and Muslims (Islamists; terrorists; boat migrants; child groomers).

Then, of course, there was a perfect storm of events which included; police ‘cowardice’ at Harehills, the Manchester Airport incident, the large Tommy Robinson rally which, although largely peaceful, saw Robinson temporarily  detained at Folkestone the next day as he was leaving the country; the Southport tragedy and the resultant wildfire of misinformation that led to the riot in the town when police came under a ferocious attack from a mob whose primary target appeared to be the small, innocuous local Mosque.

The fact that the suspect was not Muslim did little to pour oil on troubled waters and the poisonous vitriol against Muslims and the police poured from social media.

As the Southport violence grew there was a well- publicised message from the mother of one of the child victims to stop the violence which was ignored.

That families of the young victims have, not only to deal with the brutal deaths of their loved ones, but also with the fact that their murders triggered rioting across the country with resultant injuries and damage.

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 even though it is well integrated into the local community raising £25,000 from the sale of poppies and providing free meals to the less fortunate. 

Thus, with the inclusion of a fledgling leftist government in the mix, the perfect storm had been created with social media, notably ‘X’ playing a key role in whipping up emotions with notable contributions from leading figures on the far-right.

Social media distortion as exemplified in Stoke.

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.

One aspect of far-right and indeed hard-left propaganda common to both, is edited social media footage which doesn’t tell the complete story but totally distorts it. 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 indeed elsewhere in Staffordshire; Tamworth, referred to above, is of course in Staffordshire. 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 actual possession of weapons.

Surely too, requesting that officers, be removed from the struggling front line to assist in the search was also a poor option if indeed it was an option at all given the situation his colleagues were facing elsewhere. 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.  Considering all the circumstances I, and others, thought he dealt with an impossible situation superbly well. Social media however did not and the words ‘two-tier policing’ abounded together with criticism, as stated above, from those within the police community.

The incidents mentioned above are, of course, only a fraction of those that took place across the UK including Northern Ireland where once again we saw petrol bombs being used. Those on the far-right who accused the police service of being populated by cowards after the Harehills incident, must surely now be eating their words.

The question now is what next? Those who are looking for some sort of ‘we want our country back’ revolution against the state may organise further protests during the week. 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 and far-right social media footage is showing gangs of Muslims attacking white males. Whether this footage is current or historic matters little; it will only add to the tension which is beginning to reach life-threatening levels.

Update.

The above was written during Monday in the hope that, given the publicity in respect of the forthcoming arrests of subsequently identified rioters, the disorder would fade away.

Alas, 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.

Belfast again saw rioting that would have revived unpleasant memories for many with a serious assault on a male being reported that appears racially motivated. There are suggestions that Catholic and Protestant youths have joined together in a ‘common cause.’ This follows anti-migrant disorder south of the border.

And what now.

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.

There are many factors that might inhibit post-incident investigations, one of which is the effect of cuts which have in turn increased pressure on CID and other investigatory departments. There is a distinct lack of experienced detectives and whatever their level of experience, they are overworked.

Post incident investigations will inevitable mean detectives being abstracted from their normal duties which will result in more dissatisfied members of the public.

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.

Force Comms.

Another issue that appears to be troubling officers across the country, is the response of force communications teams to the extreme levels of violence faced by their officers. Officers feel that the dangerous and indeed horrific, life-threatening situations with which they are dealing are not being fed to the public. Whilst there may be some legal constraints, there is clearly an abundance of Body Worn Camera, CCTV, news and Social Media footage plus that from the force’s own evidence gatherers which could be used.

The public are still seeing and hearing on social and mainstream media denigration of their officers with criticism including that of ‘two-tier’ policing and police brutality. There is now a window of opportunity to reset the public opinion in respect of the media mantra of ‘useless police’ and the concern is that it’s not being taken.

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 despised 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. This, they rightly point out, could result in that resultant hesitation leading to injury or death and indeed recent decisions by the IOPC do little to encourage confidence. Even where the Crown Prosecution decide there is no case to answer, the months and perhaps years of anxiety for the officer and the strain on their mental well-being, will take an inevitable toll. Then, there is often a ‘second bite at the cherry, with a possible force misconduct hearing. Let’s hope the phrase, ‘he who hesitates is lost,’ (or of course ‘she’) doesn’t become a reality during the difficult weeks ahead.

Finally, just weeks ago, in an article which featured the wave of theft and drug dealing that residents were experiencing in the area where I live, I wrote the following;

“Those front- line officers are only too well aware that there is a tsunami of evil out there that could overwhelm this country to an extent that would dwarf the nightmare of the disorder seen in 2011. Cracks are clearly visible in the thin blue line that is still holding on…..just.”

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

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