Romford Riots

"Will your husband be called up to the riots in London?" my colleagues asked. "No" I said "He's been in plain clothes too long now. They'd have to be really desperate to do that!". So I went home on Monday night and what did I find? My other half packing his riot gear into a bag ready for action! I didn't even know it was in the house. His 'crew' were apparently not wanted for duty that night, despite Specials etc. having their leave cancelled, and Simon left the office to the sound of the Dad's Army theme tune from the younger uniformed officers. But his weekend off has been cancelled and he is on standby - so I have time to Blog.

Ready for action

Romford had a few problems, but nothing particularly unusual for Romford. I noticed that the youngest rioter that has been arrested at the age of 11 was a Romford boy. I wonder if he was the young man seen on the news leaving court with his face covered by a newspaper, who was caught on camera walking into a lamp post. Oh I do love Essex boys!
I saw some amusing comments on Twitter including one by an Upminster resident that read "Riots in Upminster......two old ladies knock a pair of jeans off the display in Roomes Store".

And this article from News Thump made me laugh:-
Friday 12 August 2011
Fingers were at the heart of riot organisation, claims Cameron
David Cameron used yesterday’s parliamentary debate to lay the groundwork for new police powers to remove anything used to organise the riots, including fingers and thumbs.
Parliament was discussing the recent nationwide riots after being recalled from its summer recess, with suggested solutions for prevention of future incidents top of the agenda among those wishing they were still on the beach.
Cameron told the house that, “The rioters were filmed using their fingers to create messages to organise their attacks, and we are now examining proposals that claim finger removal would prevent similar attacks in the future.”
“Obviously removing the fingers of potential rioters is a significant move, and may affect a few decent law abiding citizens, but it’s an entirely appropriate response considering the damage they can cause.”
Riot prevention measures
Security consultants have said that although fingers are pervasive throughout modern society, their swift removal in isolated areas is actually quite straight forward.
Simon Davies of Whackfuck Security told us, “A bit of ketting and a few dozen sets of bolt cutters and you’re good to go.”
“Admittedly putting them back on again is a bit of a pain, but we’re working on that bit of the process.”
Civil liberties campaigner Sandra Williams said the proposals were draconian and ‘bordering on medieval’.
She said, “You have remember that fingers are also regularly used for good purposes, I just can’t think of any right now.”

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