Thousands of UK police ready as rioters warned they will be dealt with quickly | BBC News - video Dailymotion

himesh mahalaji

UK police are preparing for more possible riots across England - with reports at least 30 protests could be planned for Wednesday.  Nearly 6,000 officers have been mobilised, say police sources, and the communities minister Jim McMahon says anyone involved in disruption will face "the full force of the law".  More people are due in court throughout the day, after the first person was jailed over the clashes on Tuesday.  The disorder erupted in cities across the country last week after the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport - with unrest fuelled by misinformation online that the suspect was an asylum seeker.  Inquests have opened into the deaths of the three girls - the coroner said they will be "missed beyond any description".

Transcript

00:006,000 police have been mobilised because of fears of more riots across the country.

00:04There are reports up to 30 protests are planned for Wednesday.

00:08Prime Minister has promised communities will be kept safe.

00:12Keir Starmer said he had assurances that there were adequate officers in place to

00:16cope if violence flared up. Here's our political correspondent Damian Grammaticus.

00:23It's just over a week since these riots began.

00:26Violence, first in Southport, spreading to other parts of England.

00:31Now for those who've taken part, the legal consequences are starting to be felt.

00:36This morning in Liverpool, three men who've all pleaded guilty to violent disorder

00:41are due to be sentenced. Yesterday, police chiefs were summoned to Downing Street

00:46for the second emergency coordination meeting in two days.

00:49The Prime Minister says more sentences will be handed out in the coming days.

00:54Over 400 people now have been arrested, a hundred have been charged,

00:59some in relation to online activity and a number of them are already in court

01:04and I'm now expecting substantive sentencing before the end of this week.

01:09That should send a very powerful message to anybody involved, either directly or online,

01:15that you are likely to be dealt with within a week and that nobody,

01:20but nobody, should be involving themselves in this disorder.

01:24Some have already appeared in court. This was 20-year-old Liam Gray,

01:29arrested in Rotherham on Sunday. He denied the charge against him.

01:36A list circulating online has suggested more than 30 locations could be targeted by rioters today.

01:43Police in London issued a warning saying,

01:46we know about the events planned by hateful and divisive groups across the capital.

01:51They've made their intention to cause disruption and division very clear.

01:55We will not tolerate this on our streets.

02:00After the rioters targeted hotels housing asylum seekers,

02:03some groups who work with refugees have been told they are at risk.

02:07One organisation in Merseyside says it has closed its offices,

02:10but will try to protect the premises today.

02:14We will also be creating, I suppose, what I would call a peace line,

02:24for want of a better expression, so that we and the local community and the priest from

02:29the local church, which is part of our building, that we can all come together

02:34to demonstrate that we believe that we should have hope in the future rather than putting up with hate.

02:43A force is about to be used against violent individuals.

02:47Sakia Starmer last night said those who felt threatened would be kept safe,

02:52but it's a severe test for a government that's been in office for just a month.

02:56Damian Grammaticus, BBC News, Westminster.

03:00Well, our correspondent Chi Chi Usundu is outside Scotland Yard and she explained

03:04what the police in London are doing to reassure communities.

03:08Well, the Metropolitan Police, in a lengthy statement that they issued yesterday,

03:12said that they plan to use every power, every tactic and every tool at their disposal to try

03:18and keep people safe. And it's not just Londoners that they're concerned about.

03:23Some 6,000 officers, riot-trained police officers, are going to deploy across various locations.

03:321,200 of them, we do believe, will be helping colleagues regionally and locally.

03:38And we do believe they'll be stationed around motorways so that they can get to some of the

03:44sites if violence does flare up.

03:47They have said that if people are concerned, they should stop and speak to a police officer

03:53and that local communities will see a larger increase of police presence in their areas.

04:01As Damian said in his report, they say they are not tolerating anything that could cause

04:06people to feel unsafe. Their job is to keep law and order and they plan to do so.

04:12In their statement, they say they know about the events planned

04:16by hateful and divisive groups across the capital and they've made their intention

04:21to cause disruption and division clear and they will not be tolerating that.

04:28Thanks to Chi Chi for that. Let's speak now to Helen King,

04:31former Assistant Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police.

04:34Thank you for coming on the programme.

04:36No problem, Lewis.

04:37So just talk us through, with this intelligence, it seems, around 30 potential

04:43locations that could see activity today,

04:47what kind of preparations will police and police forces be undertaking right now?

04:54Well, there'll be a huge structure by now put in place.

04:59As you say, the intelligence is really important, so there will be specialist intelligence staff

05:04gathering that together to work out the locations, to try and get ahead of who's

05:09going to be involved so preventative action can be taken. But as well as the public order

05:15trained officers that we're seeing in TV reports all pitted up, there are also a lot of other

05:21teams at work and logistics teams, people arranging the rosters so they know who's on

05:27duty when, briefing teams, dispatch teams in the radio rooms, command teams to support that

05:36operation. Even people like the vehicle maintenance units will be working overtime

05:41to make sure that the public order equipped vehicles are ready and out on the road.

05:47And then we've also seen this big investigative effort, so people getting arrested,

05:53being interviewed, being kept in custody, files of evidence being prepared so they can be put

05:59before the courts really quickly. So this is a huge logistical operation and the police are

06:06clearly making sure that they're as ready as they can be to respond to whatever happens tonight and

06:12in the days to come, as well as carrying out all the normal 24-7 policing that needs to be done to

06:19keep communities safe. I think most people appreciate that resources will be stretched

06:24of course and this does put extra strain on everyone involved. But when you look at the

06:29level and amount of violence on the streets over the last week, is there an argument that police

06:34could have done more to stop it earlier? I think it's very difficult to see how that could have

06:42happened. From what I've seen in the reporting, the police have got there quickly, they've acted

06:47with great courage and professionalism to keep people safe and no one should underestimate the

06:53challenges of gathering evidence and getting people before the courts as quickly as they

06:59currently are. This will be having a knock-on effect on of course the levels of tiredness

07:07and resourcing in policing. There will be officers working 12-day shifts, having rest days cancelled

07:14and so on and there will be some work that is either having to be put to one side or slowed

07:19down so that this can be prioritised. The role of social media of course is frequently

07:25raised, what's your view on it? Clearly the different platforms, there's a range of responses

07:35and levels of helpfulness towards the police. I would like to see them, once this is over,

07:43in slower time really thinking about how those online platforms can put more of the skills,

07:51more of the algorithms, more of the artificial intelligence in place so it can be proactive

07:58in preventing the spread of incitement to violence, incitement to racial hatred. Other industries,

08:06I think of the car industry, it's through the security technological developments that have

08:13reduced the ease by which cars can be stolen now. I would like to see the online platforms acting as

08:20responsible global businesses and thinking about how they can design and set themselves up to

08:27prevent some of the very negative sides that we're seeing coming out at the moment. Okay, Helen King,

08:33thank you very much for coming on the programme. Thank you.

Thousands of UK police ready as rioters warned they will be dealt with quickly | BBC News

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