Vigilantes'' stretch police resources further

Police are being hampered in their attempts to quell rioting because so-called vigilantes are taking to the streets, claiming that they will not stand by while their properties are being damaged. The Metropolitan Police said their resources were being stretched even further than before now they are having to deal with vigilante groups.

Three Asian men in Birmingham who were planning on taking to the streets to defend their area were killed when a car mounted the pavement and mowed them down.

And a group of people who live in Enfield – appearing to call themselves the Enfield Defence League – have set themselves up to fight back against looters but seem to have achieved very little other than causing problems for the police.

The Met's Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh told Sky News: "What I don't need is these so-called vigilantes, who appeared to have been drinking too much and taking policing resources away from what they should have been doing – which is preventing the looting."

He went on: "These are small pockets of people. They're frustrated, they're angry and that's totally understandable. The sadness of those images through the night and the night before last will affect everyone. But the support that we need is to allow those officers to prevent looting and prevent crime. Ironically, when you see those images with no police available, the police are now having to go and do the vigilantes as well as the other problems that they've got. That needs to stop."

 

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