London_Rioting_2011

London Rioting The London rioting was the response to the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan by Metropolitan Police Service firearms officers on the 4th of August, 2011. It started as a peaceful demonstration on the August the 6th in Tottenham where the close relatives and friends of Mark Duggan demanded justice for his death. They marched towards the Tottenham police station and waited in front of the police station than they originally planned because they were not satisfied with the seniority of the officers available at the time. Due to this, a younger and a more aggressive crowd arrived; carrying weapons and violence broke out. The news and rumours of this disturbance reached London and on the evening of the 8th of August, areas across London were affected by widespread looting, arson and violence. This rioting increased and spread around to some other areas of England, with the most severe disturbances outside London occurring in Bristol and cities in the Midlands and North West of England. As a result of this rioting, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, had to return home from his holiday to attend the matter. Severe punishments were to be giving to the rioters, the Prime minster recalled. As of 15 August, about 3,100 people had been arrested, of whom more than 1,000 had been charged. There were total 3,443 crimes across London linked to the disorder. Five people died and at least 16 others were injured as a direct result of related violent acts, also about 186 police officers were injured while rioting. Many cities’ high streets were the target for the rioting. Vehicles, homes and shops were attacked and set alight. At least 100 homes were destroyed in the arson and looting. Shopkeepers estimated the damages in their Tottenham Hale and Tottenham branches at several million pounds. The riots caused the irretrievable loss of heritage architecture. It was estimated that retailers lost at least 30,000 trading hours. Overall, it was showed in Financial Times that an analysis showed that 48,000 local businesses - shops, restaurants, pubs and clubs - had suffered financial losses as a result of the looting and rioting in English streets. As an impact of this rioting, the sporting fixtures had to be postponed. Five Football League Cup games due to be played on 9 and 10 August were postponed after requests from police due to the riots. Children as young as 9 years old took part in the rioting but the majority of the young offenders were teenagers and young adults. Police action was blamed for the initial riot, and the subsequent police reaction was criticised as being neither appropriate nor sufficiently effective. It was estimated over 100 million pounds worth of damage was caused with hundreds of businesses and members of the public affected by loss and damage. The rioting particular highlighted many issues in our society and within our younger generation. The rioters who took part in the rioting were particular young people and majority of them being within the age group of 20 – 24 of age. The majority of the young offenders came from poor and improper backgrounds. Most of these youngsters were unemployed and mostly from Tottenham. Unemployment was one of the highest contributory factors towards the rioting. It was also reported most of the youngsters were from black gang cultures said that they have influenced the young youths to riot. It was also stated many of these young rioters were symptomatic of a "wider malaise" including worklessness, illiteracy, and drug abuse. Various journalists has also identified that these youngsters were brought up in poverty and the growing gap between the rich and the poor as causative factor. Many of these youngsters lacked a role model during their upbringing and argue the fact the majority of the youth offenders had one thing in common: they did not own a father figure at home. Some of the people who took part in the rioting were also due to their frustrations of the new law and the new party. These were the many issues that were highlighted in our society. These young offenders did not have good upbringing and the environment that they lived has influences such as gang cultures and etc. A Young Offender I think we as a society can best address these issues and imbalances by better education in schools. I think students should be taught how to face and overcome these types of problems and how to act responsibly and sensibly during these types of issues. I also think youngsters from a young age should be brought up with proper religious education which would make them understand the consequences of their actions and allow them act more responsibly in the future. The parents of the youngsters should be stricter and be more concerned about what their child id up to. The parents should be more careful about their child’s upbringing and who they get involved with and they should also be concerned about what type of environment. We as a society should also try and eliminate the gang cultures which would reduce issues and the influence on the youths. We as a society should do the best and try and address these issues.