Police forces need to be better prepared for serious violence and disorder, according to a review of the response to this summer’s riots.
The report also found police failed to realise the significance of a number of events leading up to the riots, leaving gaps in intelligence linked to social media and the dark web.
Violence flared across the country following the deaths of three schoolgirls in a knife attack in Southport in Merseyside in July.
The unrest and disorder continued for several days.
In September, the home secretary asked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to carry out a rapid review into the policing response to the disorder.
The first part of the report, which is published today, said that officers had showed “immense bravery and personal sacrifice” throughout the disorder but that forces were unprepared for the scale of the rioting.
It said the decision by the National Police Chiefs’ Council to implement a national mobilisation plan on 6 August was made too late and should have been activated four days earlier.
The inspectorate said a number of events in 2023 and 2024 were indicators of potential future disorder but this had not been reflected in police intelligence reviews.
“Our assessment of these incidents suggests that the risks of disorder were greater than the police believed them to be,” it said. “They involved extreme nationalist sentiment, aggravated activism or serious disorder.”
The incidents included demonstrations organised by Tommy Robinson, unrest in Leeds and Cardiff and violence on Armistice Day in London.
The report also concluded that the dress code initially handed down by commanders could have left officers vulnerable to injury.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andy Cooke, told Sky News: “Officers shouldn’t have to stand there and be subjected to that level of barrage that we saw.
“Policing needs to look again at how quickly it mobilises more resources in these instances to actually ensure that those officers aren’t stood in these lines for so long, that different tactics can be used. To do different tactics you need more resources.
“Getting officers to these locations where there are problems quickly is a critical part of that.”
He praised the dedication and bravery of officers who had protected the public. Some 302 officers were injured in the violence, with more than 50 needing hospital treatment.
He said some of the most sustained violence was faced by officers who came under siege while protecting hotels housing migrants.
Female officers and those from minority backgrounds bore the brunt of the attacks.
‘A complex situation’
The inspectorate found the speedy identification and prosecution of hundreds of people involved in the riots helped to bring an end to the violence.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for public disorder, Chief Constable BJ Harrington said it was encouraging the report acknowledged “the immense bravery and professionalism” of officers.
He said the finding that the national mobilisation plan should have been made earlier was a “helpful recommendation”.
He added: “Hindsight can be useful, and these learnings are important, but we are pleased that the Inspectorate also recognise how complex of a situation this was for policing to respond to, and that on the whole, the service did so well.”
In Walton on Merseyside, where rioters burned down a community library, there was broad support for the efforts of police to control to the summer’s disorder.
The Spellow Community Hub and Library reopened last week and the city council’s head of libraries Alicia Smith said: “Our emergency services were amazing.”
A second report from the inspectorate, which will look at social media misinformation among other things, is due to be published in the spring.
Mr Cooke said the focus should be on being prepared: “I doubt it will be another 14 years before we see serious disorder. I hope it is, but I doubt it.”