Hart Van DenburgPrime Minister David Cameron echoed the sentiment of many in the United Kingdom when he put the riots that spread across Britain in context.
“This has been a wake-up call for our country,” he declared.
Cameron continued, “Social problems that have been festering for decades have exploded in our face. … Do we have the determination to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations?”
Cameron said senior ministers of his 2-year-old coalition government would spend the next few weeks formulating new policies designed to reverse what he described as a country being dragged down by many citizens’ laziness, irresponsibility and selfishness. He said “the responsible majority” was demanding that the government build “a stronger society.” (AP)
The BBC reports that Cameron’s approach is expected to mirror that which was pursued in Los Angeles after the 1992 riots post-Rodney King verdict.
The LAPD learned tactics like bringing in large numbers of police officers, and the national guard, making a huge number of arrests to show their strength.
But the police also went through a long period of soul-searching after the riots.
“Across the board we made changes in our police department, adding more officers – more women, more minorities, a lot more Hispanic officers to match the community make up,” said the LAPD’s Commander Smith.
