Back to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, who seems to have recovered from his strop earlier in the week. After Rowley was slammed for ignoring reporters who met him outside the Cabinet Office – even grabbing the microphone of one journalist – the Met boss has decided to speak with broadcasters today amidst rising fears of ‘two tier policing’.
Hitting out at claims that police officers are treating some groups more severely than others, Rowley fumed:
It’s complete nonsense. We have commentators from either end of the political spectrum who like to throw accusations of bias at the police because we stand in the middle, we operate independently under the law without fear or favour. And if you’ve got crazy views over there, you don’t like it; and if you’ve got crazy views over there, you don’t like it. We will continue to do that.
The Police Commissioner went on:
The serious voices who echo those are of more concern to me, because the risk is they legitimise it, and they legitimise the violence that the officers I’m sending on mutual aid today will face on the streets. They are putting them at risk by suggesting that any of those officers are going out with any intent other than to operate without fear or favour in protecting communities.
Goodness. Rowley’s tirade interestingly coincides with the circulation of a broadcast clip with West Midlands Police Superintendent Emlyn Richards. The copper’s interview has been subject to a social media pile-on with users adamant he admitted to a ‘two tier’ system – after discussing how the force met with ‘community leaders’ to ‘understand the style of policing we needed to deliver’. The top policeman ruffled feathers further when he told Sky News that: ‘The vast majority of people who attended that protest yesterday did so law-abidingly, and did so with the right intentions… What we saw was a response from our communities, where they were trying to make sure that was policed within themselves, and trying to deter people from taking part in that disorder.’
Scrutiny of the country’s police forces continues as the nation looks set to face more riots tonight. As Steerpike wrote earlier, most Brits believe coppers have dealt with disturbances well up until now – but there is nervousness about how the force will cope if the violence continues. Sir Keir Starmer has said that rioters will face ‘the full force of the law’ and today the CPS has announced that 140 people have already been charged. But the new PM still has his work cut out if he is to draw the chaos to an end…
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