Arresting times

摘要

Few people will forget the pictures broadcast from a media helicopter over Croydon that showed a furniture store with over 100 years of trading history burning to the ground. It is the image that everyone remembers from the riots of 2011. It and the image of a woman leaping into the arms of rescuers on the ground at a nearby location provide a graphic illustration of the chaos that briefly existed on the streets of England in the summer of 2011. It was a time that many will never forget. The riots which lasted for five days quickly spread across the country taxing the resilience of the emergency services. Yet despite these images one other will also quickly be recalled. The image of a young hooded and masked individual dressed in a grey track-suit defiantly standing in front of a burning car. The stance of the person involved said it all. "You cannot touch me, I can choose when and where I wish to create mayhem". It was a moment when society in the areas affected broke down and anarchy reigned.