Quick fixes not enough to address policing lessons of summer 2024 disorder
14 April 2025
The Home Affairs Committee, a cross-party committee of MPs, has published its report into the police response to the 2024 summer disorder.
Read all publications related to this inquiry
- Information vacuum allowed disinformation to flourish
- Police reform needs to address both emergency response and day-to-day issues to support police forces
- Failures to anticipate intensity of violence undermined potential for proactive policing
- No evidence of ‘two-tier policing’ in response to violence
In July and August last year, significant disorder took place in UK towns and cities following the murders of Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Silva Aguiar in Southport. An estimated 40,000 additional officer shifts were required by police officers in a ten-day period and over 1,500 arrests were made in response to the disorder.
In key aspects, the criminal justice system has failed to keep pace with the social media age, the report finds. Contempt of court rules led to restrictions on disclosure which created an information vacuum that allowed disinformation to flourish. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is also right to review its 19 year old guidelines but will also need to ensure a shared understanding of their interpretation with criminal justice partners and the media.
Some police forces failed to anticipate the intensity of the violence in 2024. This undermined their ability to undertake proactive policing and left officers exposed to significant risk. The co-ordination of the national police response to localised disorder lacked resilience which weakened the overall response. The Government's planned policing reforms should be ambitious to address these problems.
Unsubstantiated and “disgraceful” claims of “two-tier policing” served only to undermine police officers. Given the levels of violence and criminal behaviour witnessed in summer 2024 the Committee found the police response to be “entirely appropriate”.
The successful police response relied on the criminal justice system being able to prosecute and imprison high numbers of offenders at speed. This necessitated dedicated resourcing and Government support. However, lengthy court backlogs continue to delay justice in the wider system. The Government’s ambitious crime reduction targets will require better join-up between different parts of the criminal justice system, learning from the experience of the disorder.
Chair's comments
Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, Dame Karen Bradley said:
“Police officers on the ground showed tremendous courage and fortitude in responding to scenes of deplorable violence. But some police forces could have better anticipated the risk of disorder and taken a more proactive and preventative approach.
“Lessons must be learned from how the whole criminal justice system worked together. It will need to ensure that police forces can improve how they deal with regular policing work as well as supporting them to develop capacity to respond to crises. The Government’s plans for police reform will be especially important for making sure national policing structures support forces effectively in emergencies.
“It is a grim reality that bad actors sought to exploit the unspeakable tragedy that unfolded in Southport. By failing to disclose information to the public, false claims filled the gap and flourished online, further undermining confidence in the police and public authorities. The criminal justice system will need to ensure its approach to communication is fit for the social media age.
“There is a difference in how police must deal with violence and how they deal with peaceful protests. This needs to recognised by commentators who all too readily spread claims of “two tier policing”. Organised disorder is rightly met with a robust response; any implied equivalence with planned non-violent protests is simply wrong.”
Key findings
Social media and disinformation
Policies on the release of information relating to criminal trials have not kept pace with the evolution of social media. This created a vacuum within which disinformation was able to thrive.
The commitment of the Crown Prosecution Service to minimising risks to successful prosecutions is understandable, but inconsistent advice over the publication of information placed Merseyside Police in a difficult position.
The CPS’s decision to review their media protocol is welcome. This should be published as soon as possible and regularly updated. The CPS should also work with partner organisations in the police and media to ensure there is a clear shared understanding of its interpretation and use.
Individual police forces are right to recognise the importance of monitoring social media as part of their intelligence gathering. Continuing this capacity will be important to deal with future disorder at a local level, as well as regular policing. However, the volume of social media activity and use of encrypted platforms mean that national support is required. The Home Office should examine how the new national system for policing can include capacity to monitor and respond to social media at a national level.
Police response
Police forces were unprepared for the level of violence witnessed across the country in 2024. This prevented them from taking a proactive approach to policing and left officers exposed to significant risk. Forces should have better anticipated the risk of disorder and not assumed further protests would be peaceful after disorder in Southport.
Lessons need to be learnt to ensure that policing can respond more effectively to instances of disorder in the future, as well as improving general resilience. Mutual aid between police forces worked well in some areas but was inconsistent. National policing structures acted as a hinderance to the policing response and reliable national data was lacking.
The disorder placed yet more pressure on an already stretched police workforce. Police officers and other staff worked for long hours in extremely difficult circumstances and at significant personal cost. Many suffered injury and other trauma. Those not dealing with disorder directly will also have dealt with an increased workload and resulting fatigue.
The Government should ensure all additional costs incurred by forces across the country so as not to impact on ongoing police work. It should develop specific plans for retention to better support the existing workforce and ensure the right mix of staff for future challenges. As it sets out to develop improvements to the national policing system, the Government should be ambitious and not focus on short terms wins.
Once it receives the response to the second part of the review by HMICFRS, the Government should ensure it sets out how it will implement its findings, over what timescale and how it will be funded.
The Criminal Justice System
The disorder demonstrated that effective policing relies on an efficient criminal justice system to prosecute crimes and imprison offenders, the report finds. This necessitated extra resourcing and government support, but wider problems remain in the courts and prison estate. Lengthy trial backlogs persist and other serious crimes have seen significant delays to justice.
The Government’s long term ambitions to make substantial reductions to offending will only be achieved with better long-term alignment between Home Office policies on crime and Ministry of Justice policies on courts and prisons.
Two-tier policing
The police response has been subject to accusations of “two-tier policing”, alleging that those involved in disorder had been police more strongly than previous protests.
The Home Affairs Committee found no evidence for these claims. It considers the police response to be entirely appropriate given the levels of violence and criminality.
It additionally expresses disappointment at the unsubstantiated claims of ‘two-tier policing’ through social and traditional media. Such claims undermined the efforts of police officers dealing with the riots.
Further information
Image: House of Commons