The Home Secretary has asked for new advice on use of officers and tactics, after violence and looting which took place in several cities last week.
Addressing an audience of police in central London, Mrs May explained: ‘I have written to Sir Denis O’Connor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, and asked him to provide clearer information to forces about the size of deployments, the need for mutual aid, pre-emptive action, public order tactics, the number of officers trained in public order policing, and an appropriate arrests policy.’
Police will also be given new powers, including gang injunctions for young people and the right for police to remove face coverings.
Case for reform
The Home Secretary praised the police, giving examples of officers who worked 18 hours straight through and slept on police station floors.
They risked ‘their own safety day in, day out, to protect ours’.
Mrs May said the riots demonstrated ‘what a noble profession policing is,’ but said that the experience ‘made the case for police reform more urgent than ever’.