Internationally renowned policeman Bill Bratton has agreed to advise the government on
how to defeat gang culture. Bratton’s role is not official, but he will arrive for duty in the autumn nonetheless.
The former LA police chief has already offered a diagnosis of Britain’s problems. In an interview with the Telegraph, he says that hoodlums have been “emboldened” by timid policing and lenient sentencing. Quite what this means for Ken Clarke’s justice policy, supported by the Liberal Democrats, remains to be seen. But the indications are that the government will bolster its law and order policies. Doubtless a wry smile will have broken across the face of Andy Coulson, who warned that it would be so from the outset.
Meanwhile, the tension between the government and the police has broken into open antipathy. The Times has a full account (£), but here are a few choice quotations.
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