Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Where does this madness end?

This seems to be the question on everyones mind right now, and there is a good reason for this.
With the violence first starting in Tottenham a few days back following the shooting of Mark Duggan, it has seemingly lost its cause and spiralled out of control. Turning into a mindless pot of trouble, constantly being added to by groups with their own agendas.
Last night for example was completely unrelated, and just a damn good excuse to go out and smash up the local area, and loot what you can while you can.

The people doing this have just highlighted how broken down society has become, and how lawless and without moral people have become. So who does the responsibility lay with. Well this is a question that has been debated all day on TV. Ask the political opposition and they will tell you its because of the cuts. Ask youth workers and they will tell you how the adult generation and the country are failing the youth of today. Ask some of the mindless idiots participating and I'm sure they will blame the police, the tax system, and cuts in the university system. Let's be honest, if you stood a chance of getting a degree, you would have enough sense not to have got involved in this. Idiots.

OK, let's say its because of the cuts. So the country is near broke, spending has been cut, so let's cause millions in damage to drain the financial resources even quicker. That should sort it, eh!

Or no, its the governments fault, so instead of working together to sort this out, the elected member of parliament are just using this news to launch their own verbal riots on each other. Grow up you bunch of idiots, and work as one, share ideas, and let's get back on track.

Maybe it is the poor hard done by youth of today. Not enough dole money to top up their mobile phone, have a Nando's AND get Call of Duty 26... Oh no, that's terrible. Get of your lazy expectant, disrespectful little Nike covered arses and do what most people do... Earn a living, learn to respect your possessions, then you will understand how the people you are affecting feel.

Either way, something has to give, someone has to stand up, and somehow this all has to stop. But before it stops, will it escalate further?

Two factors lead me to believe that things could get worse before they get better. 1/ The interim press release from the IPCC regarding Mark Duggan. There are NO indications he fired before being shot dead. And the bullet which struck an officers radio was from the CO19 officer shooting Mark Duggan.
And 2/ social confrontation. It is becoming increasingly obvious that society itself is starting to stand up to this disgraceful behaviour. Groups of people sick of this are popping up in opposition to this behaviour, and slowly but surely The Big Society is showing its hand. So how long now before there is a physical confrontation between these mindless opportunist thieves, and a group of locals wanting to put a stop to it all. Or worse still groups like the EDL and BNP setting upon the gangs.
I should say that the above mention of the two groups in no way suggests it is just ethnic minorities causing this unrest, that is simply not the case. But comments on social networking sites do seem hellbent on making people believe this rubbish.

So as I continue to write this entry I am now walking the streets of Lewisham. Its early evening and still very light, but already its clear to see that's the police are preparing to seize control of whatever might occur tonight. As we walk past Lewisham Police Station you can see the police staging their operation. A LARGE number of police van, all the officers dressed in full riot gear. Officers on horseback also dressed in riot gear.

Travelling into other areas, Bromley, Lee etc, it is clear to see how they have been affected already, and how they are preparing for tonight. Hi visibility policing already on the streets, high value targets heavily boarded up, Richer Sounds etc taking no chances. One nice thing is London traffic is lovely tonight.

So what now?
Well my predictions are that it has to get worse before it can get better. With the huge police numbers on the streets tonight it can go one of two ways. The gangs could consider it too risky to try anything, and start a quiet few days until the police drop their guard. Or the other option which I fear is that they will see this as a challenge and rise to it. More organised violence, wide spread and indiscriminate, making a point to the police that they can and will do as they please. Stretching the resources to their maximum and beyond the point of effectiveness.

Only time will tell, but for now I thank the police for once again putting themselves between the gangs and ourselves, and trying to maintain some form of control. My thoughts and thanks are with all the services which have to respond to this outrageous behaviour.

Pictures attached were taken a couple of hours ago in Lewisham.
Sent using BlackBerry®

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