The spark that set light to the week of rioting in our major cities in early August 2011 was the controversial shooting and killing by police officers of a young man called Mark Duggan in Tottenham on 4 August. The anger that followed the killing sparked ‘copycat’ rioting and looting over several nights.
Table 1 gives figures for arrests and charges made in a selection of areas involved in the protest. For a few days it seemed that the hegemony was under threat as hundreds of black and white youths rampaged through the inner cities. There was evidence of organised criminals being involved in bringing in vehicles to take away the stolen goods. Leading politicians, although initially reluctant, curtailed their holidays to regain some control. The media referred to the rioting as an urban nightmare, a terrifying breakdown of law and order, with the police forces looking on seemingly helpless in the face of this outbreak of ‘mindless’ youth violence.
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