Panic on the streets of London
Well the looting has been going on for several nights now, London has been in flames, even here in Leicester last night they attacked shops in the town centre. My main thoughts are that Looting is NOT protesting, it is criminal. Nor are they are attacking 'the rich' as two girls were claiming when interviewed in London, they are attacking the hard working who are trying to make a go of it even during the recession and keep their businesses afloat despite the economic downturn and as such give something back to the local community and through paying their taxes to the national economy. I find myself thinking that these looters are just self-selecting themselves for opting out of possible futures and staying in the situations they claim to be angry about. Convictions for looting and property damage are not going to make them any more employable.
The Police are doing a difficult job, with insufficient numbers, and there are are probably operational reasons for them not arresting looters when they see them breaking into shops, presumably arresting them would take officers away from the front line to fill in a million pages of paperwork. BUT they really have to arrest them because that is what we expect, they must be seen to be doing their job. No matter what the reason behind the scenes, when we see footage of the police standing by and watching while the criminals loot and destroy is strikes at our trust in them. We are policed by consent, ie we don't go out and deal with the crooks because the police are there to do it for us, and vice versa we don't have to be on our guard 24/7 in case of attack because the police are supposed to be there to prevent it. But if they stand there and don't act then they will have to accept that the understanding between us will have to change. Thus they really do HAVE to be seen to act. It is a case of put up or shut up. Okay that is probably a simplification but then most people will look at it in a very simplified manner.
The Police are doing a difficult job, with insufficient numbers, and there are are probably operational reasons for them not arresting looters when they see them breaking into shops, presumably arresting them would take officers away from the front line to fill in a million pages of paperwork. BUT they really have to arrest them because that is what we expect, they must be seen to be doing their job. No matter what the reason behind the scenes, when we see footage of the police standing by and watching while the criminals loot and destroy is strikes at our trust in them. We are policed by consent, ie we don't go out and deal with the crooks because the police are there to do it for us, and vice versa we don't have to be on our guard 24/7 in case of attack because the police are supposed to be there to prevent it. But if they stand there and don't act then they will have to accept that the understanding between us will have to change. Thus they really do HAVE to be seen to act. It is a case of put up or shut up. Okay that is probably a simplification but then most people will look at it in a very simplified manner.