Four years ago, it was Dave “Hug a Hoodie” Cameron.
Of course, our Prime Minister was away on holiday when Tottenham, Clapham and Croydon were burning last week.
But yesterday, after recalling Parliament, the former Bullingdon Club member said this in the House of Commons:
“When I visited Croydon, I found real anger on the streets about what happened and how it could be allowed to happen. There was a lot of questioning about police tactics and the police presence.”
Inside Croydon has already received a number of eye-witness accounts about how the police handled the volatile situation at Wild West Croydon on Monday night. London Road traders and online commenters have strongly suggested that certain areas were abandoned to the arsonists and looters, while a “premium” policing service was provided to an area of the High Street.
- What did you see?
- What were you told by police on Monday night?
- Did you feel abandoned to lawlessness by ill-equip officers, or were you well-protected?
You can post your comment here, or email insidecroydon@btinternet.com. We protect our sources if you wish to maintain anonymity, but we do need to know who you are and how to contact you.
Above all, we want you to share your views with us, and with the Prime Minister.
Related articles
- Croydon 8/8: Eyewitnesses ask questions of police approach (insidecroydon.com)
- Croydon was vulnerable after being short-changed for decades (insidecroydon.com)
- Croydon 8/8: Local Tamils say “We have been doubly let down” (insidecroydon.com)
- Croydon 8/8: Council chief admits mistakes were made (insidecroydon.com)
This is just my observations from maps, The News, and newsfeeds but:
There was a ring of Cops around the BID area. However, I do not feel this was a ‘bias’ as much as a tactical limit. For all I know Reeves was in the BID, although it was clearly not protected.
With London Road to advance would have meant leaving the back-roads open for people to move down. They did not have the numbers to block off the back roads as well by the looks of it, so had to hold the line at the edge of the City Centre just up from West Croydon Station. Using the natural channel the City Centre is.
Down by Reeves Corner they held a line where Reeves was outside. Reeves has multiple ways to access it, where as the Tramlines/ Army Surplus area is again this natural channel.
If you’ve got loads of Cops you can block off loads of roads. If you have few Cops you can only block off 1 or 2 roads. It was a shortage of numbers, from what I can see, that left Reeves and West Croydon so vulnerable. But had those Cops moved out to engage the enemy then they would have left the back door open for said enemy. Being out-flanked.
This is simple enough tactics really. They just didn’t have the numbers.
And remember Boris has chopped Cops already, before these cuts were announced. Another 200 Cops on Duty being brought into Croydon on Monday night ( 8/8 ) could have seen a very different result from simply holding the line whilst the looters went for it.
So…
My message to Cameron? We need plenty of Police on the Front Line. If it is recommended by Top Cops that a 12% cut is sustainable why are you pushing for 20%? Based on what data?
What if you’re over-confident, and get it wrong? You’re not a Policing expert like these Top-Cops are. Why are you ignoring them?
I’d love an answer to that last one. Govt’s ignoring the experts have been known to fall.