The other side of the thin blue line.

Seeing a similar experience from another perspective is always helpful and educational. Last week we had the attitude of the rioters of August 2011 in London speaking and letting us know the cause of their complaints, and last night on BBC 2 in The Riots: In Their Own Words it was the turn of the - bobby on the beat. What came across so powerfully was the sense of fear in the police - they were outnumbered and could have been killed. There was also the feeling that they were ill prepared for what was to happen. The shooting and killing of Mark Duggan by police was the spark that lit the fuse, but resentment about police tactics was endemic. This failure of knowledge and understanding led to a gulf between the two sides. Why were the police so reluctant to talk to the family about the killing of Mark Duggan? Why had the situation broken down so badly? Due to a long history of back youth and police hostility, there was little room to manoeuvre. There is clearly a pattern that has now been established between these two opposing sides - they are now at war, and Tottenham was the front line. Julien Temple the maker of the film London: The Modern Babylon has much to say about the disparity between the rich and poor in this mongrel city. Policing is not the solution to social problems. The roots are in deprived childhoods, absent fathers, lone parents on low incomes, poor educational achievement and out of work young kids. What a mess.