A Police Superintendent On Wapping.

"Their visiting supporters - some of whom were known as 'Rent-a-Mob' from their regular appearances at demonstrations and marches would join the crowd when the pub closed and the tension would rise. On Wednesdays and Saturdays large crowds were expected and the whole area was turned into a police camp, with each side street filled with dog handlers, mounted police, and coach loads of reserves with riot gear.

On the anniversary of the start of the strike, real violence broke out that was put down with such heavy measures as cavalry charges into the crowd. A huge array of stones and other missiles was revealed when the crowd retreated, but eighteen Met officers faced charges of excessive violence for their actions that night. This is the paradox of public order policing: strength works in the short term, but may defeat longer-term objectives.

Swamping an area with hundreds of policemen may keep the lid on, but the drain on manpower and the damage to community relations is too costly to be sustained. Older members of the community may be reassured, but not the young on whose trust the future of policing by consensus depends. Endorsed at the top in theory, can community policing work in practice, while 'slow rioting' is going on?"

From Talking Blues, Roger Graff, Collins Harvill, 1989.

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