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• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 07 September 2011

It is obvious just from looking at the media coverage that different tactics were used on the ground in different places, and some with a greater level of success than others. In Romford we had some prior notice that this was going to happen by maybe extrapolating the events from the night before in the way that Darren has mentioned, but also information on social media, and that enabled our fairly far-sighted borough commander, Mike Smith, to put measures in place to ask businesses to close early and to deploy his officers at Romford Station, where the considerable police presence...

• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 07 September 2011

I think most Londoners are absolutely full of praise for the way police handled this from Tuesday 8 August onwards, and the policing was proportionate, it was appropriate, it was effective, the right numbers were there and we did not need to have the Army coming in or plastic bullets or water cannons or anything like that. It was appropriate, effective policing that restored order. However, the widespread perception on the Sunday and the Monday is simply that the policing operation was not effective either in terms of tactics or in terms of the numbers on the street. Could those...