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An influential group of MPs says that the police response to the summer riots showed ‘tremendous courage and fortitude’ but was hampered by a failure to anticipate the levels of violence, deal with the challenges of social media and take a national approach to quickly stamping out the spread of disinformation.
The Home Affairs Committee, a group of MPs led by Dame Karen Bradley, has published the results of an inquiry into the riots that spread across the country in summer 2024. It looked at the police response, concluding that police forces ‘failed to anticipate the intensity of the violence’ and exposed officers to ‘significant risk.’ With a local and national policing response in place, the committee criticised the resilience of the overall coordination saying that it weakened the response.
‘As it sets out to develop improvements to the national policing system, the government should be ambitious and not focus on short terms wins.’
The violence broke out in July and August last year following the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Silva Aguiar in Southport. An estimated 40,000 additional officer shifts were required by police officers in a ten-day period and over 1,500 arrests were made in response to the disorder.
Police officers and other staff worked for long hours in extremely difficult circumstances and at significant personal cost, finds the report. Many suffered injury and other trauma. Those not dealing with disorder directly dealt with an increased workload and resulting fatigue. The committee took evidence from 10 different police forces affected by the riots last year.
In key aspects, the criminal justice system has failed to keep pace with the social media age, the report finds. Contempt of court rules led to restrictions on disclosure which created an information vacuum that allowed disinformation to flourish. The committee says that the Crown Prosecution Service is right to review its 19 year old guidelines but will also need to ‘ensure a shared understanding of their interpretation with criminal justice partners and the media.’
The committee was robust in its response to accusations about the operation of ‘two-tier policing.’ It said: ‘the right to protest is fundamental in our democracy and we would take seriously any evidence that peaceful protest was being suppressed based on the political views expressed.’
‘The policing response last summer was entirely appropriate given the levels of violence and criminality that were on display. It was disgraceful to see unsubstantiated commentary about ‘two-tier policing’ undermining the efforts of police officers who served bravely in the face of violence.’
The National Police Chiefs’ Council responded to the report, saying that it was pleased that the committee ‘robustly disagrees with the notion of two-tier policing.’
The report also looked at how local police forces monitored social media and questioned the national approach, recommending that the Home Office should examine how the government’s moves to create more national policing functions could include capability and capacity to monitor and respond to social media at a national level.
“Lessons must be learned from how the whole criminal justice system worked together. It will need to ensure that police forces can improve how they deal with regular policing work as well as supporting them to develop capacity to respond to crises.
“The Government’s plans for police reform will be especially important for making sure national policing structures support forces effectively in emergencies.”
Dame Karen Bradley, Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.
The committee report includes substantial references to the first of two reports into the police response to the riots by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The committee said: ‘Once it receives the response to the second part of the review by HMICFRS, the government should ensure it sets out how it will implement its findings, over what timescale and how it will be funded.’
Read the 46 page report in full – The police response to the 2024 summer disorder.
For more background, read about the HMICFRS report from December 2024 – Policing needs to be better prepared to deal with violent disorder, says inspectorate.
