Riot and Human Rights

#1 Daily Telegraph

The Home Secretary appeared to rule out sending water cannon or the Army onto the streets of the capital, despite a third night of violence.
Speaking on Sky News, she said that police intelligence and the support of local communities would help quell the disturbances.

"The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon," she said. "The way we police in Britain is through consent of communities."
As those charged with offences appear in court today, "people will start to see the consequences of their actions", Mrs May added.
"There are many who are easily identified through CCTV cameras."
She also told BBC Breakfast that "parents need to be asking themselves where were their children, what were their children doing in the evening."

She added: "There are longer-term questions about when we see parents letting their children as young as that sort of age be out on the streets in this way."
With the police appearing to lose control of parts of London overnight, many people used the social network site Twitter to demand that officers be allowed to use the weapon.

An early supporter of the tactic was Ken Livingstone, the former London mayor, who said he agreed that police should allowed to start using the cannon to disperse rioters. He said: “The issue of water cannon would be very useful given the level of arson we are seeing here.”

Further reading : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/8690466/London-riots-Theresa-May-rejects-calls-for-water-cannon.html



#2 www.Daily.record.co.uk

London riots: Human rights laws have made police sitting ducks, says Tory MP

Aug 9 2011

POLITICIANS should be blamed for the violence spreading across London and other major cities, an MP has said.

Conservative David Davies, who serves as a Special Constable with British Transport Police, said a number of changes to the law over the years had made the police like sitting ducks when dealing with riots.
A police officer injured in London riots

He believes officers are justified in using force in extreme situations as a pre-emptive strike, rather than having to wait to be attacked first.

Monmouth MP Mr Davies has called on his political colleagues to stop pointing the finger at the police as the cause of the unrest, and said they should consider the impact which their own policies have had on the ability to maintain the rule of the law.

"The police are under strict instructions at all times they must consider the human rights of law-breakers to be their absolute priority," he said.

"Officers are even being advised in some areas they should simply put up with people swearing at them, which completely undermines the authority the police once had.

Further reading : http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2011/08/09/london-riots-human-rights-laws-have-made-police-sitting-ducks-says-tory-mp-86908-23331956/