ABSTRACT
The political imperative for taking rioters seriously is clear: it counters the attempt by the political establishment to dismiss rioting as merely a lawless outburst and thus to discredit the grievances of ethnic minorities. Insisting that rioting is a form of political protest dignifies it and demands that the grievances of rioters be addressed. Taking overt acts of protest seriously poses few of the problems that accompany taking rioters seriously. In opposition to the "riff-raff" theory of protest, there has arisen over the past 20 years a theoretical framework that does take protest seriously. Just as it is necessary that the people take protest seriously in order to understand it, so too it is essential that they take policing seriously in order to understand its response to protest. This chapter briefly describes how the policing of public order is organized by the London Metropolitan Police.
