An inspection of the police response to the public disorder in July and August 2024: Tranche 1
On Monday 29 July 2024, three young girls, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Silva Aguiar, were killed in a knife attack in Southport. Following these tragic events, widespread unrest and violent disorder broke out in many towns and cities across the UK.
On 6 September 2024, the Home Secretary commissioned us to carry out a rapid review into the policing response to the disorder, to identify lessons for the future. The commission divided the work into two tranches (parts). The terms of reference for Tranche 1 required us to examine:
- the police service’s public order public safety (POPS) capacity and capabilities;
- the police service’s ability to mobilise officers across police force areas to respond to the disorder; and
- how the well-being and resilience of officers might be affected by repeated exposure to incidents of disorder.
In our second report, which we will publish in 2025, we will set out our findings on:
- intelligence relating to violent disorder;
- social media misinformation and disinformation that inflamed, incited or brought about more widespread disorder; and
- investigations into offences.
In this report, we set out our findings on the first part of our review.
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Police forces must be better prepared to tackle future instances of violent disorder