The UK City Riots

[The Succubus]

Hey all,

Living in London at the moment, these riots have got me really spooked. At first it was a couple of small isloated spots but it seems to be spreading, even a borough that is uncomfortably close to where I live.

I guess I'm making this thread partly as somewhere to jot down my worries and thoughts but also because I want to know if the riots are affecting other London-based Playgrounders.

[banjo1985]

Not London based, but having some copycat problems here in Birmingham. Best wishes to all London playgrounders, hope you can stay safe and that all this crazy stuff doesn't come to your doors.

[Kobold-Bard]

I ended up watching the news all night, it's just unreal. It's like the storyline from some mediocre film.

Where about in London do you live?

Edit: Also riots in Birmingham, Liverpool & Bristol, with some in Leeds & Nottingham as well.

[The Succubus]

I live near Harrow, which isn't a million miles away from Ealing where they had to deploy armoured police vehicles last night. My main worry is Wembley which is *really* close to me - I can all too easily picture nasty stuff kicking off there. I know that Harrow-on-the-Hill shopping centre has been locked down today.

[Etcetera]

Where I live is chock full of shops and loot to be protested, but fortunately we seem to have been insulated from the actual rioting by a buffer of respectable citizenry.

So far.

[The Succubus]

A colleague made me laugh really hard this morning. We were discussing the riots and he was talking about how young most of the rioters were. Then he came out with the line:

"Aren't these people supposed to be our future?"

The mental image I had reduced me to tears of laughter. But then, I'm a really cynical sort.

[Kobold-Bard]

For anyone outside the UK who wants a frame of reference:

Wikipedia page
Map showing incidents from overnight

And a video of an epic woman having a go at the rioters in London.

[H Birchgrove]

"Justice has a price. The price is freedom."
- Judge Dredd

Please prove him wrong.

[banjo1985]

And a video of an epic woman having a go at the rioters in London.

Go lady!

Warning to others that there's a bit of cussing in there, but it's great to see someone standing up to this stupidity.

[Worira]

"Justice has a price. The price is freedom."
- Judge Dredd

Please prove him wrong.

You know, I'm pretty sure no one in this thread is actually rioting. Just saying.

[Lord Herman]

Wow, I had no idea it was this bad until I watched the BBC's live coverage this morning.

Stay safe, British playgrounders! *hugs*

[CurlyKitGirl]

I know this is really black humour, but these riots seem ridiculously polite for the most part.
Other times I've seen riots in the news there've been people dead; civilians, police and rioters; rioters attacking the police and so on.
Here, bad as it is, it's not what I'd call bad bad, as in riots-in-films bad, or bad by the standards of a number of riot-prone places.
You got to admit, it's funny when a looter just walks calmly past the police carrying a computer he nicked from Curry's, nods a "Morning, you want one of these?" to them and walks off, even waiting for the light to go red at a crossing.

Doesn't mean it's right and all, and riots aren't exactly giggle-worthy, especially now they're spread; I have friends in:
Nottingham
Liverpool
Birmingham and
Londinium
And now I'm off to go call as many of them as possible. But black humour being black: even our riots are polite.
Better stay that way.

But now I've made my thoughts clear, time to run up a phone bill. Aaaand cancel some travel plans.

[The Succubus]

{{scrubbed}}

[Heliomance]

Twitter is being used to organise volunteer cleanup crews. The official hashtag is #riotwombles. This is an amazing thing.

#keepcalmandcarryon

[Kobold-Bard]

BBC confirming first fatality.

26 year old man shot in Croydon last night has since died.

[polity4life]

You see, in Detroit people die during police actions with alarming regularity. Hundred-strong rallies take place all too often and never is there a riot. I'm not sure if people are desensitized and expect violence from police with little official response from whatever oversight powers may be at work.

I suppose from this side of the pond, I never saw London as a boiling pot that can blow. It has always seemed too "put-together", so to speak. I just hope that this is brought to order soon. Riots are frightening happenings.

[KuReshtin]

I know this is really black humour, but these riots seem ridiculously polite for the most part.
Other times I've seen riots in the news there've been people dead; civilians, police and rioters; rioters attacking the police and so on.
Here, bad as it is, it's not what I'd call bad bad, as in riots-in-films bad, or bad by the standards of a number of riot-prone places.
You got to admit, it's funny when a looter just walks calmly past the police carrying a computer he nicked from Curry's, nods a "Morning, you want one of these?" to them and walks off, even waiting for the light to go red at a crossing.

Doesn't mean it's right and all, and riots aren't exactly giggle-worthy, especially now they're spread; I have friends in:
Nottingham
Liverpool
Birmingham and
Londinium
And now I'm off to go call as many of them as possible. But black humour being black: even our riots are polite.
Better stay that way.

But now I've made my thoughts clear, time to run up a phone bill. Aaaand cancel some travel plans.

Yep, rioters being polite enough to help injured people onto their feet and start walking them away before robbing them of their stuff...

Millions of pounds worth of damages, businesses destroyed and looted.
police getting pelted with rocks.
Cars torched.
News reporters getting mugged and beaten up because they're carrying cameras.

Yeah, polite as hell, that is.

[Brother Oni]

Yes because this method is working *really* well at the moment. May be she should ask all the rioters "to stop being so jolly mean and go home and behave" as well, just to be safe.

I think you're a bit young to remember how rioters were fought by the police in Northern Ireland back during the 80s and 90s.
Water cannons, plastic bullets, tear gas with lethal force on reserve, were par for the course and it deeply alienated the police/military and the local public.

What the Home Secretary meant is that the police on mainland UK aren't normally heavy handed and impose the law through force at every opportunity, like more restrictive countries.

I'm not going to go further down this particular topic due to board rules.

[banjo1985]

Yeah I wouldn't call all this chaos 'polite', though the looting in Birmingham seems to have been extremely selective. Almost as if they were going for shops with valuable contents, oh my that's surprising/sarcasm.

A quick walk through Birmingham city centre revealed that around half the phone shops, all teh electrical stores, several jewellers, the camera shop, H&M, Gamestation and most of the pubs were targetted. As was McDonalds strangely enough, I guess looting is hungry work.

Things seem remarkably calm in Birmingham at the minute, the streets are almost as busy as normal, except with goggle-eyed passers-by taking pictures on their camera phones. Having seen the alternatives across London I think we've got off fairly lightly so far.

Waterstones was untouched, which was nice as I could take advantage of the sale without walking through broken glass!

[KuReshtin]

I think you're a bit young to remember how rioters were fought by the police in Northern Ireland back during the 80s and 90s.
Water cannons, plastic bullets, tear gas with lethal force on reserve, were par for the course and it deeply alienated the police/military and the local public.

What the Home Secretary meant is that the police on mainland UK aren't normally heavy handed and impose the law through force at every opportunity, like more restrictive countries.

I'm not going to go further down this particular topic due to board rules.

I would assume that in this situation, the police will get the blame for a lot of things either way.
If they don't get water cannons and rubber bullets to sort the rioters out, the local residents who are getting their property destroyed will resent the police for not stopping the riots. And the looting and destruction will continue, racking up even more costs for the tax payers.

If they do get the water cannons and rubber bullets, some people will resent the police for using 'too heavy-handed tactics' to resolve the issue. But at least there's a better chance of the destruction will end.

I know which alternative I'd go for.

[Heliomance]

Apparently rubber bullets are "an absolute last resort", and they don't think they need water cannons either.

[Kobold-Bard]

Apparently rubber bullets are "an absolute last resort", and they don't think they need water cannons either.

Water cannons wouldn't do any good tbh. These aren't protesters, they're thieves; they leg it when a line of police move towards them. If they saw a water cannon they'd be gone before the police could turn it on.

[KuReshtin]

I'm thinking that maybe the best thing that could happen is if it just started raining. Like a proper downpour that lasted for a day or three.
Would the looters and thugs really want their track suits and hoodies to get wet? I don't think so.

[Etcetera]

I'm thinking that maybe the best thing that could happen is if it just started raining. Like a proper downpour that lasted for a day or three.
Would the looters and thugs really want their track suits and hoodies to get wet? I don't think so.

This, basically. I remember reading about some of the factors that lead to rioting, and low temperatures and rain drastically reduce the chances of riots.

[ThePhantasm]

Homes and businesses being burned, elderly people being mugged and injured, the local economy being wrecked... there's nothing 'polite' about this. Its disgusting really.

[Thufir]

I'm thinking that maybe the best thing that could happen is if it just started raining. Like a proper downpour that lasted for a day or three.
Would the looters and thugs really want their track suits and hoodies to get wet? I don't think so.

Right, everyone near affected areas: organise barbecues and cricket games for the next few days!

[Kobold-Bard]

BBC interviewing 2 girls.

[Etcetera]

BBC interviewing 2 girls.

Oh dear.

Oh dear.

[DraPrime]

BBC interviewing 2 girls.

The very first sentence was just all sorts of wrong. They list all these bad things that are happening and then say "...it was good though". It was good?

[The Succubus]

And the IQ of the next generation drops another few notches.

They don't even know why they are doing it. "because it's fun and we're showing the rich people we can do what we want." Way to go girls! When your friend turns up for work, finds the shop's been torched and closed indefinitely, do you really think they're going to continue to pay your friend's wages? That cornershop that's run by that nice Asian family that always says hello when you go for a pint of milk and a paper, when you smash their windows and steal their stock, that's really showing those multi-millionaires who's boss, right?

Double facepalm doesn't even come close.