Humberside Police Authority: Reassurances to local community following national riots

FOLLOWING THE NATIONAL RIOTS Humberside Police Authority have acted swiftly to reassure local communities that rioting has not taken place in the Humberside Police area and that 'contingency plans' are in place to deal with any incidents.

In a letter circulated to community groups (PDF) yesterday, Kevin Sharp the Chief Executive of Humberside Police Authority writes:

"The purpose of this letter is to reassure you that the Police Authority and the Force are working together to ensure local people and communities remain safe." in this area there "...have been no reported incidents of organised disorder and criminality so far. However, it would be unwise to assume that some sort of 'copy cat' events could not occur locally. Humberside Police are therefore making contingency plans to deal with any events that take place locally."

The letter sent to Kath Jones the Chief Officer of the North Bank Forum was circulated to community groups by e-mail yesterday. Mr Sharp comments upon the decision to deploy some Humberside Police officers to deal with the London disturbances:

"Humberside Police, like many other forces received a specific request to provide police officers to support the policing operation in London. A number of local officers have been sent to the Capital and are working with the Metropolitan Police to deal with the disorder and criminality... the Police Authority is satisfied that the absence of these officers will not impact upon the Force's ability to continue to serve local people and provide a high standard of policing."

The letter was intended to reassure local people - however it will in itself raise concerns that some areas in Humberside are not immune to the disorder seen elsewhere in the country.

Whilst no one can condone the actions of looters and criminals engaged in the self-destruction of their own communities, there needs to be a full investigation into the causes of the 'disaffection' that seems to have gripped an entire section - albeit a small minority - of our younger people and prompted them into self-destructive actions. The 'ingredients' that have fermented this disaffection - and into riots - obviously need to be analysed and understood so that we can tackle the underlying problems.

The Huffington Post (internet newspaper) has asked the questions:

It's surprising how little has yet to emerge about the rioters themselves: What are they after? What drove them into the streets, for four nights straight, to burn buses and shatter windows?

Demanding action against criminals and looters is needed - but if we fail to tackle the underlying causes of the current disaffection, then we will all suffer the consequences.