Unit 2 AO3+4

The London riots started on the 6th of August after a local gangster was shot and killed by a police officer. The riots consisted of rioting looting and arson and took place for 4 days. The London riots affected allot of communities and it also affected allot of the public services in bad and good ways and I am going to be talking about these effects in this essay.

Police
The first public service I am going to focus on is the police. Along with the fire service and ambulance service the police were one of the top services involved in the riots. They were the ones who were on the frontline trying to control all the rioters and they were the ones who put themselves at risk to try and maintain peace. The first thing that I think that would have affected the police is the injuries they had. The daily mirror quotes, Eight police officers were being treated in hospital today following riots which broke out two days after a man was shot dead by police. I think the injuries they took on board within the riots would have affected them in a bad way and I think it would have made them loose confidence in short term and long term as those injured may now be a bit more nervous when entering a riot scene again. But then I think that by the London riots overall, their morale would have been boosted as one, they were chosen first to take on the London riots and two, they did a really good job of handling the rioters. I think that the media coverage on the police would have been a good thing for the police. I think this because them shown protecting the country and fighting against the rioters, would have given confidence in all the people watching the news or reading the papers. Also it could be seen in a bad way to all the people supporting the riots, as the police were trying to stop them and that is not what the people supporting the riots want. Also I think the media could have bad and good points to recruiting for the police. I think it could be seen as a good thing because allot of people who didnt want the riots to happen would probably like to do something about it and that may have inspired them to join the police force to help in situations like this in the future. But then I think it could have a negative effect on the recruiting process because it shows the police getting hit and injured and too allot of people this would put them off from joining the police. I think that also the riots would have tested the police force. I think this because of how many people were rioting; the police needed to if not get over half the amount to control the rioters.

Fire service

The fire service is the second service I am going to focus on. The fir service played a huge role in defending against the rioters and was tested to the max. BBC news quotes, The brigade's 999 control staff also saw a high number of calls, handling, on average, one call every 48 seconds four nights in a row. And between the 5 th and 6th of August, staff handled more than 5,500 calls and the busiest night they dealt with one call every 11 seconds. The riots like the police service effected positively and negatively on the fire service. One of the negatives, being the media. I think the media would of made the impression that the fire service werent doing enough work. I think this because many videos and news article were published showing blazing building and shops being burned to the ground. This would of had a negative effect on the service with morale. If the media and people are saying they are not doing enough work, then their morale will drop and will have a negative effect on their work. Also another quote from BBC news was, To me it doesn't sound like a brigade that sufficiently coped. But then also you could look at it in a positive way as it means next time, when something as big as the rioters comes back, the fire service will know they will need to be more equipped and have more officers. Also I think that the media and other factors I have just mentioned will have a negative effect on public confidence. I think this because if the public feel like the fire service didnt do a good enough jobs then, they may not have confidence in them to do other jobs. Also I think that the recruitment side of it will be the same as the police and will have negative and positive effects from the London riots.

Ambulance service
Along with the police and fire service the ambulance played a major role in the London riots. They did a very good job helping the injured and without them the casualties would have been endless. Along with the other two the riots had positive and negative effects on the service. One of the negative is the impact the media had on it. I think the media would have shown a negative side towards the ambulance service because many wounded and injured rioters and policemen in the news and papers. I think this would have acted negatively on the morale and also the publics confidence. I think it would of acted negatively on the ambulance services morale because whilst there out trying to do their best and help people, the media is just making things worse by showing propaganda. Also I think it will effect negatively on the publics confidence because the media id showing many people getting injured and hurt and nothing is getting done by it. Also I think the rioters would have had a negative effect on the ambulance crews. I think this because certain ambulance crews were being attacked by the rioters when they were trying to help the injured casualties. HSJ news quotes Rioting youths threw missiles at ambulance crews as they tried to help people injured in the violent disorder that spread across London

last night. This could show a negative effect as some of the crew may have got scared and now may be more nervous when they come across a situation like this again.