'Beyond the Riots' – Policing in Partnership to Prevent and Contain Urban Unrest Deborah Platts-Fowler Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Law Centre for Criminal Justice Studies September 2016 i The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his/her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Deborah Platts-Fowler to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2016 The University of Leeds and Deborah Platts-Fowler ii Acknowledgements So many people have supported my endeavour to write this thesis, it is difficult to know where to start or end. However, there is certain logic in beginning with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), whose financial investment allowed me to take an employment break and become a not-so poor student again. I thank the staff and fellow students in the School of Law at the University of Leeds, my primary institution and official home for the doctoral journey. I specifically want to mention the administrative staff for supporting the arrangements for my fieldwork and trips to academic conferences, where I was able to share my ideas and be inspired by the work of others. I also want to thank staff and students in the School of Law at the University of Sheffield, where I physically resided most of the time, being less than a mile from where I live. I’ll forever remember the cosy PhD room where we silently picked away at our keyboards; coming together in the cramped, but always sociable, kitchen area to share our hopes and fears about life beyond the PhD should we ever make it – and finally I did! I am indebted, as well, to the Law and Criminology Department at Sheffield Hallam University, where I was accepted onto the teaching team in my final year. I was especially thankful for the ‘breather’ from work commitments, as I pulled together the final chapters of my thesis in the summer of 2016. I give special thanks to my two supervisors – Professor Adam Crawford and Dr Layla Skinns – for their guidance and support throughout; especially their commitment to reading and commenting on various versions on the chapters herein. Their academic insights helped to light the way and hugely improve the end product. I acknowledge all my friends and family who listened to my PhD progress and non- progress reports, especially Gareth Young, who was on his doctoral journey. Their kind words gave me the confidence to keep going. I reserve my deepest gratitude for my husband, Joe, for always being there. His calm and practical outlook, and complete belief that I could do it, kept me on track. I thank my two daughters, Lola and Isla, for understanding why I couldn't attend all their school and sporting events. I hope I have inspired them to take the road less travelled to reach their own goals. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the research participants who shared their time, thoughts and emotions with me. This thesis mainly belongs to them. iii Abstract For four days in August 2011 there were widespread public disturbances in 66 locations across the country. Known as the ‘2011 English Riots’, they were estimated to have involved 15,000 participants, cost half a billion pounds and were associated with five deaths (Bridges 2012). The Prime Minister described them as ‘criminality, pure and simple’ (Cameron 2011). Consequently, there was no major official inquiry. An academic literature emerged, but this was theoretically driven and London-centric. The lack of an empirical evidence-base provided the rationale for this study. The aims were to understand why the riots occurred in some places outside London, but not others; to explore the role of police and partners in preventing and containing unrest; and, recognising that policing rarely takes place in a vacuum, to identify other contextual factors undermining and promoting social order at local levels. The case study method was selected for its ability to capture context. Cases included a riot affected city and an ‘at risk’ city, which were characteristically similar, to support a compare and contrast approach. Neighbourhood 'sub-cases' were used as a methodological tool to access community-level variables. The study drew on quantitative and qualitative data, but was primarily based on 45 interviews with police and partners involved in the public order response or working with affected communities. The study found that inequality, exclusion and poor treatment of communities provided motivation for rioting. However, the activities of police and partners were able to prevent and contain unrest. The involvement of neighbourhood police officers and practitioners in the main public order response offered greater chance of success, due to their local knowledge and rapport, but was dependent on pre-existing partnerships and the mind-set of police commanders. Informal social controls, underpinned by community attachment, played an important role in inhibiting violence, especially where supported by formal controls. iv Table of Contents Introduction ….…………………………………………………………………………………………..... - 1 - Chapter 1 – The 2011 English Riots and Other Contemporary Disturbances - 9 - 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... - 9 - 1.2 The 2011 English Riots .......................................................................... - 9 - 1.3 Previous Riots in England and Wales .................................................. - 12 - 1.3.1 The 1980s ................................................................................... - 13 - 1.3.2 The 1990s ................................................................................... - 15 - 1.3.3 The 2000s ................................................................................... - 16 - 1.4 Explanations for Riots .......................................................................... - 17 - 1.4.1 Contagion and the mediated crowd .......................................... - 17 - 1.4.2 Criminality .................................................................................. - 19 - 1.4.3 The Role of Looting .................................................................... - 23 - 1.4.4 Deprivation and social exclusion ................................................ - 29 - 1.4.5 Over-Policing .............................................................................. - 33 - 1.4.6 Under-Policing ............................................................................ - 34 - 1.4.7 Public Order Policing .................................................................. - 37 - 1.4.8 Race and Ethnicity ...................................................................... - 39 - 1.4.9 Dysfunctional Community .......................................................... - 41 - 1.5 Urban unrest elsewhere in the world ................................................. - 46 - 1.5.1 U.S. Riots .................................................................................... - 46 - 1.5.2 French Riots ................................................................................ - 48 - 1.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................... - 51 - Chapter 2 – Policing literature ...................................................................... - 54 - 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... - 54 - 2.2 Police and the task of policing ............................................................ - 55 - 2.3 Procedural justice ................................................................................ - 56 - 2.4 PACE and rationalising police powers ................................................. - 58 - 2.5 Expanding police powers..................................................................... - 60 - 2.6 Complaints systems ............................................................................. - 61 - v 2.7 Governance structures ........................................................................ - 62 - 2.8 Democratic policing ............................................................................. - 64 - 2.9 New Public Management .................................................................... - 65 - 2.10 Ambient Policing ................................................................................. - 67 - 2.11 Multi-agency policing .......................................................................... - 69 - 2.12 Organisational change ......................................................................... - 71 - 2.13 Public order policing ............................................................................ - 72 - 2.13.1 Negotiated management .................................................. - 74 - 2.13.2 Paramilitary policing .......................................................... - 77 - 2.14 Conclusion ........................................................................................... - 79 - Chapter 3 - Methodology chapter .................................................................. - 80 - 3.1 Introduction........................................................................................