I don’t know if any of you have been following the recent shameful events here in the UK, but by far the most contentious issue to date is that the Prime Minister, David Cameron, is to consult Bill Bratton over Police tactics during the LA riots.
A comment from Hugh Orde in today’s Sunday papers that he doesn’t feel inclined to take advice from a police officer regarding the UK handling of gangs, when there are around 400 gangs operating in LA, suggests it is not being well received by him!

Clearly, no one appreciates being usurped by an ‘outsider’ over how they are doing their job, and I can see why Hugh Orde is smarting from the suggestion he could benefit from a consultant from another country, that is a natural human reaction, but what do you think about the consultation, and how would police in America react to the idea of their president calling in a police officer from Europe to wag a finger at them?

Personally, I think the police here have been rendered impotent by politicians and the court of European Human Rights, and that they should have used water cannons and rubber bullets at the outset, however, ‘we’ are terrified of upsetting minority groups in the UK, lest the phrase ‘racists’ is used, so frustrating as it is, the police have their hands tied; is zero tolerance really achievable??