London, 17 August 2011 - As government, law enforcement agencies and insurers count the cost of the civil unrest which recently gripped major cities across the country, calls are being made to revisit the whole area of the law dealing with public disorder on the scale witnessed. Indeed, a debate has emerged as to whether rioting should be reclassified as urban terrorism, with law enforcement agencies given greater powers to deal with such civil unrest and the courts being able to hand down stiffer sentences on those who have taken part.
Government has already announced a small number of new measures to prevent a repeat of the riots and looting that took place in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and other cities and says it will look at giving law enforcement agencies enhanced powers, including the ability to impose curfews on specific groups or individuals when necessary. Government get-tough rhetoric notwithstanding, It is unlikely that relevant legislation will change as a result of the widespread civil unrest.
Officials have said that the Public Order Act 1986 provides a clear definition of what constitutes a riot and provides for tough penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment in the event of extremely violent disorder. This will be cold comfort to the many businesses and home owners caught up in the unrest and now facing extraordinarily high costs to rebuild.
The shocking scenes of violence witnessed on television and harrowing eyewitness accounts of innocent people being terrorised on the streets, has had a profound effect on public confidence in the areas affected and will impact on businesses for months to come. The insurance sector estimates that the cost of the civil unrest will exceed £200 million in the final accounting.
A clear issue emerging from these events is that the mantra of resilience drummed home to major businesses by government and echoed at Counter Terror Expo, the annual gathering of governmental, security services, law enforcement and military experts, hasn’t necessarily filtered down to the many medium and small firms that make up the average high street. It has been reported that vital evidence may have been lost as looters smashed CCTV imaging equipment when raiding shops and appeals to tax authorities have made to deal leniently with businesses that may have lost vital records during the rioting.
Lessons learned the hard way in the aftermath of major terrorist events, particularly in respect to preserving records, have equal traction on the high street in the aftermath of rioting. It may become an insurance requirement to keep such material offsite from business premises in the future.
The usefulness of CCTV as a crime fighting tool has been amply demonstrated by law enforcement officials posting images of these involved in rioting online. A lesser known fact is that latest generation facial recognition techniques are also being employed to match captured images with known offenders. This could be another reason why the authorities have been able to bring so many of those involved to justice so quickly.
Although the political rhetoric and public furore over the riots has begun to diminish, the debate over public disorder and the ability of law enforcement to react decisively to quell such outbursts, will undoubtedly continue. Whether anything will come of this debate remains to be seen.
Ends.
Note to Editors
Counter Terror Expo, the global gathering of counter terrorism professionals held annually in London, has consistently emphasised the importance of resilience in the face of terrorist threat, natural disaster and civil unrest. This world renowned event remains the most relevant event of its kind and annually brings the leading world experts from government, security services, law enforcement, military and academia together to debate issues and find solutions to them. Counter Terror Expo is held against the backdrop of a high specialised workshop programmes and extensive and a world beating technology exhibition.
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