UK police were too slow reacting to summer riots: Report

LAUREN TAYLOR: A new government report in the U.K. finding police were too slow responding to anti-immigrant riots that rattled the country over the summer.

The report shows police under-estimated the threat from the protests, as well as the power of mis-information.

A 17-year-old born in the U.K. to immigrant parents killed three girls and injured eight others when attacking a dance class in the town of Southport. But false reports that the British native was an undocumented immigrant sparked anti-immigrant mobs to take to the streets.

They attacked police, lit fires, looted stores while targeting mosques and hotels holding people seeking asylum.

The report found, quote, “immense bravery” from eight local police forces whose conduct it reviewed. But the chief inspector of policing said the national mobilization plan UK police launched should have started three days earlier.

“The professionalism of those leading the response deserves credit,” the chief inspector said. “But the systems and processes they work under need to change.”

The report says police should do a better job speaking out to debunk misinformation going forward. 

In this case, that included a post from Reform party leader Nigel Farage, an advocate for reducing immigration to the U.K. Farage spread information later proven false about the background and law enforcement history of the killer.

The report says that police should have recognized the risk due to events in the year leading up to the riots, including attacks on housing for asylum seekers and what the report called “extreme nationalist sentiment.”

A second report is due out in the new year, focusing on intelligence about the riots and on how misinformation fueled their growth.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

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