London Riots
Introduction
Crime can be committed for a variety of reasons; lack of education, greed, ill-morals etc. Regarding this, there are two well thought out theories of why crimes are committed, the collectivist and individualist theory’s. If you believe in the views of an individualist then you consider that crimes are committed because of that person’s weaknesses and absence of principles, also that person is responsible for their actions so they should have to pay the consequences. If better standards were pressured among today’s society by having stricter rules and punishments, individualists believe that crime would be kept to a minimum. In contrast collectivists think that if the government provided people from poorer backgrounds with better housing, employment and more opportunities crime would then not be as common. In this report I am going to select which theory best explains why the London Riots occurred back in 2011. Also I will explain the motivation behind the rebellion and the crimes that happened during the time of the uproar.
Lootings, police assaults and fire raising were all frequently being demonstrated in many cities across England including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Gloucester, Gillingham and Nottingahm, from the 9th to the 14th of August 2011. Law abiding citizens across the UK along with the rest of the world watched in disgrace and horror as media coverage showed scenes of destruction; crime being committed in masses, terrified onlookers, burned out buildings, officers trying to avoid incoming missiles, thousands of looters charging into shops etc. All of the demonstrations happened due to the death of a father of three Mark Duggan, whom was shot by police firearms while armed. Even up to this day, as a consequence of the riots; political, academic and social figures still debate whether his death was a lawful killing. During the time of the rebellious period which consisted of lootings, vandalism, fire raising plus attacks on police officers, David Cameron stressed that the riots opened up his eyes to see the worst of Britain.
Information on Mark Duggan’s life
Mark Duggan was brought up in Broadwater farm in North London by his mum Pamela however due to family difficulties his mother decided to put him in the care of his Aunt from the age of a 12 to 17. At the time of the shooting he was an engaged thirty one year old with three children with his fiancé; a 10 year old, a 7 year old and 18 month year old. Yet, in total he has fathered six children. Before his death, he had a job at Stanstead airport but had aspirations to become a firefighter. However his application had been denied as he was a well-known gangster and drug dealer to the authorities. In the past he had been arrested for various crimes including possession of cannabis, attempted murder, handling stolen goods and murder charges. Throughout the investigation his family consistently painted Duggan as an angel that was hardworking, friendly, lawful and full of innocence. The police couldn’t disagree more.
Duggan was a part of Operation Trident, a police investigation that involved looking into gun crime in ethnic minorities. On travelling in a taxi in his neighborhood with a small group of other male accomplices, the police stopped the vehicle to search him. Due to the fact that Dugan and other men were all armed they decided to run out the taxi with Duggan putting his hand on the gun which was attached to his waist band when he exited the vehicle. The taxi driver who was restrained to the ground at the time claims that he never heard Mark attempt to fire at the police officers but did see him point the gun in the direction of the officers. A police officer shot Dugan who was shortly taken to receive medical treatment at a nearby hospital was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. In an individualists mind, Duggan should have been shot as he is responsible for his own actions and that he should have to pay the consequences