British riots have intensified, creating a situation that security forces have struggled to control, that has left businesses unable to trade, people homeless and that has caused immense damage in many locations.
Initially, the blazing, violent protests were confined to the UK's capital city, London, but they've now rippled outwards to other major cities including Bristol, Nottingham, Birmingham and Liverpool, as well as multiple London suburbs. They began in response to the shooting, by Metropolitan Police, of a civilian, but have now expanded on a huge scale.
To date, well over 400 arrests have taken place, with thousands of police officers deployed just to try and sort out the London riots.
The first British riots were recorded on 6 August and, since then, they've intensified and disturbed the security of many areas.
‘Recreational violence' and ‘opportunistic criminality' are just two of the phrases that have been used to described just exactly what's happened, with youths looting shops and intimidating local communities.
The Metropolitan Police has reported having received over 20,000 public calls during one 24 hour period - close to a 400 per cent increase on usual figures. Shops and homes have been destroyed - potentially causing millions of pounds worth of damage - and images of buildings in flames are starting to become symbolic of these British riots.
In all, the riots have showcased a more unsettled Britain than has been seen for very many years.
Early on 9 August, British Prime Minister David Cameron chaired an emergency meeting of the COBRA crisis response committee and, mid-morning, made an official statement on the riots spreading across Britain. "We will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets", he stressed. "These are sickening scenes, scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing...attacking police officers. It has to be confronted and defeated.
"People should be in no doubt that we are on the side of the law-abiding."
"As ever, police officers have shown incredible bravery...but it's clear that we need much more police on our streets. There'll be some 16,000 officers on the streets tonight."
"There have already been 450 people arrested...people should expect to see many more arrests in the days to come."
In a message to those responsible, Cameron stated: "you will feel the force of the law and if you are old enough to commit these crimes..you are old enough to face the punishments."
The riots have highlighted both positive and negative aspects of modern social media platforms. It's been suggested that Twitter and other websites have been used by those involved in the riots to coordinate their movements while, on the other hand, civilians have been using the same sources to offer to help put right the damage and devastation that's already been caused.
The Met Police have also urged members of the public, who may have captured images of those taking part in the riots, to submit them for ID purposes, while they're now studying thousands of hours worth of CCTV footage.
Elsewhere, event cancellations have started to be imposed - what would have been a friendly match between the English and Dutch national teams at Wembley Stadium, on 10 August, will now not take place.
Security Technology will present further coverage of the British riots in future News Items.
Image copyright hozinja (Eric Hossinger) – Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
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