Rioters Blame Police for August Riots

A study involving interviews of various rioters at the time of the August riots indicate that they blame the police for the events that took place. A collective study of interviews made at the time indicated the following:

"Analysts, who studied 270 interviews with people who took part in the disturbances, said distrust and antipathy towards officers was a key driving force behind why thousands took to the streets.
A complex mix of other political, social and economic grievances also contributed to the unprecedented trouble, according to the research conducted by the London School of Economics (LSE) and The Guardian.
Out of those questioned, 85% said policing was an "important" or "very important" factor in why the riots happened. It was second only to poverty, which saw 86% of rioters class it as one of the main causes of the four consecutive nights of unrest during the summer"

 And then a little further down:

 "Other major factors included media coverage, greed, inequality, boredom, criminality, moral decline and racial tensions, the study found. Poor parenting and gangs were also said to be an important cause of the trouble, which led to the deaths of five people and saw more than 4,000 arrested."

 This is interesting, but ultimately I don't buy it. Of course the people who were interviewed were biased. They would think that it was the police's fault, with their stop and search methods and the way that the police that area and others like it.
   Now I'm not saying that the police and their methods are perfect, far from it. I understand that the police might need to review and change some of their policies and methods and that they also need to be careful when dealing with certain communities, however it is also a double edged sword. The police wouldn't have to act that way if they weren't faced with so many obstacles, many of which are put up there by the very community they are trying to police, help, and improve. You can't really blame the police for doing their job, what they are paid to do.
   Frankly I would say that poverty, media coverage, greed, boredom, criminality, moral decline and racial tensions are probably more likely reasons than just the police on their own. Not least of all because all those things are more evident in other such area's around London and the United Kingdom.
   
 I honestly don't think the police can be blamed majorly for something which came about because of a number of different factors. Not just the shooting of Mark Duggan and not only because of how the police operate, but because of social aspects.After all, I don't think the shooting of Mark Duggan and the operational procedures of the police alone could lead to behaviour like this:

Sources:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hjZguGlguhwjnT5Hp8WfPBCEX_bQ?docId=B33803981323058941A00003

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/883848-rioters-blamed-sense-of-injustice-and-anger-at-police-for-summer-riots

My dream

I had the strangest most vivid dream I have had in a long time, and yet in no time at all I will probably forget it which is why I feel like I need to write it down.
Some dreams are very vivid and yet as soon as you wake up you already the main details about them. You want to remember and you really try hard, and yet you cannot.
Anyway, here is the gist of my dream as I remember it.

I was in a shopping centre, one I don't really recognise though. I was
going to HMV to look at some Manga comics even though in real life HMV don't
sell Manga comics.
I entered and started to walk towards one aisle in particular when a
young kid shoulder barged me. He muttered some apology but laced with
severe attitude and he shot me a look.
So I stood in the aisle looking through the magazines but then I put
them down and turned around, at which point that same young Asian guy walked
into me. This time he wasn't so apologetic and although I can't remember what
exactly he said, I know it wasn't very complimentary.
This next part is the strangest and possibly the most frightening,
because without much more provocation I lashed out at him. He fell back onto
a rack/shelf and I hit him a few more times. Then his friend who wasn't
that much older than him came over and grabbed me by the collar but he didn't
have enough time as I then thrust my forehead into his face, headbutting him,
however not only did headbutting him not hurt, I didn't feel it.
They both lay there, quite still. In pain and in shock by the
looks of it. Everyone had turned and was looking at me. I considered running
away but I didn't. I remained rooted to the spot.

The scene then changed to what I imagine was a police station,
however it was the sort of police station you saw from a 1970's American cop
show. The policewoman who interviewed me seemed quite sympathetic however she
nodded and took the statement anyway. I was very worried, I knew I was deep
in the shit.
I left the station still protesting my innocence.

Next thing I knew I was at some sort of institution. It was a strange
mix between a psychiatric hospital, a rehab, and facility for people who have
anger issues, and so on. I was shown around by a person who kept changing. At
first it was a big hairy tattooed biker in leathers, and then towards the end it
was someone who I knew.

I was shown around and there were all sorts of people there like
Carrot Top (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrot_Top)
and so on. Eventually we stopped in this big ward where nothing was going on,
people were just milling about. Some wearing normal clothing's, others wearing
those big hospital gowns.
My guide told me I was a softy because I hurt people but didn't mean
it, however he and his friends were hard because they hurt people and meant it.
It was about that time that I woke up.

So quite a strange dream. It certainly did spark a few thoughts, and some parts even surprised me. I think the part that surprises me the most is the way I lashed out at those two young Asian guys. They were young but I didn't want to call them kids in case it made me sound like an even bigger asshole.
But they can't have been older than about seventeen or eighteen years old, I'm guessing sixteen or seventeen.

The point is that it is very unlike me to lash out like that. I am quite calm and reserved now and I am able to have patience. Admittedly I wasn't that patient when I left school some 7 years ago or so, I had a bit of a temper. But now I am calmer, much calmer.

Maybe the dream brought out and represented a different side of me, the side that no-one ever see's, not even me.

Well that's all for now. I might have some more to say on it later, but at least it's said now, it's written down so I won't forget.

What a bizarre dream.