London: More than 700 people have been
charged with violence and looting for four days of
unprecedented street violence that shook Britain last week as
authorities announced that they would maintain emergency
policing levels through the week end and beyond if necessary.
Home Secretary Theresa May said that authorities in no
case would take chances and that 16,000 police officers would
remain deployed in London and other cities to keep vigil over
the weekend.
"We will be maintaining the numbers for a period of
time," May said, asserting that though there had been quieter
nights, "We can`t afford to be complacent."
London police announced that more than 1,700 arrests have
been carried out of which 700 have been charged with the
courts working round the clock. Two-thirds of those charged
have been remanded to custody.
Sensing widespread backing for a harsher crackdown on the
rioters Prime Minister David Cameron has announced full
backing of his government for speedy justice that has hastened
hundreds of suspects through the courts.
Cameron had also proposed a punitive campaign against the
looters to kick them and their families out of their
government subsidised homes.
The new measure would probably me the most punitive of
the sanctions, the British government is considering in
response to the worst civil disorder in a generation. More
than 10 million Britons live in public houses.
In the first such case an 18-year-old youth and his
mother were served with an eviction notice in the Wandsworth
Council. The kicking out process will come into effect if he
is convicted.
A US crime expert enlisted by Cameron to help curb gangs
after this week’s riots has said, that solving the problem was
more complex than just arresting people.
Former New York police commissioner Bill Bratton who was
a key figure in imposing zero-tolerance police in New York
said the solution was robust and community based policing was
necessary to nip gang culture in the bud.
"It is going to require a lot of intervention and
prevention strategies and techniques," Bratton told in an
interview in US.
He said he had agreed to visit Britain in coming months
to give advice.
PTI
