Second straight night of peace on the streets of Toxteth Toxteth Against the Riots (TAR), has expressed guarded pleasure at the second consecutive night of no rioting on the streets of Toxteth. The group has been actively engaged in activities to stop the escalation of the riots that erupted across Liverpool on the night of August 9, 2011.
“There is no room for complacency, but nevertheless we are extremely happy that our streets have been generally peaceful for the past two nights”, said Garth Dallas, a TAR spokesperson. “Whilst we can not be absolutely certain why the rioting have paused, we are confident that the visible police activity in association with community groups like ours has played a key role”.
Such police activity included stopping a substantial number of cars from entering the Toxteth area. TAR had previously reported to Merseyside Police their concern that numerous cars were being driven into their community, delivering outsiders who were intent on rioting against the wishes of the local community. Over the past two nights TAR volunteers have been vigilant in recording the vehicle registration numbers of suspect vehicles and sending them to the Police. Merseyside Police have also stepped up its efforts to stop vehicles entering the area and, acting on its own intelligence, successfully prevented a bus load of potential rioters have entering the Toxteth area. Merseyside Police have released CCTV images of people who were involved in the recent riots and have, so far, made 50 arrests relating to public disorder. Of the people arrested, 27 are teenagers, 48 are men and two women, aging from 14 – 52 years.
Merseyside Police said “The response from Merseyside communities has been exceptionally positive and we are very grateful for all the support and the positive feedback we’ve received following on from our actions. There is still, understandably, concern amongst our communities. We want to do everything possible to reassure people that we will continue to tackle all incidents of disorder, and we will not tolerate disruption, disorder or violence on the streets of Merseyside. We would like to extent our thanks to everyone in the community who has helped with the community clear ups, by taking action or providing us with information and support.”
Tracey Gore, member of the TAR Police liaison team said, “The cooperation with the Police must be commended. However, we must also extend high praise to the great work done by many young people in our community who have shown leadership by convincing their peers not to engage in rioting.”
“At a time when the focus is on the criminal misbehaviour of many young rioters across the country, it is comforting to know that we still have young people here in Toxteth who care about their community and are prepared to support our peaceful actions against rioting on our streets.”
The general community has also expressed amazing support for the action of TAR, as evidenced by the over 1,300 subscribers to its new Facebook website over a 24 hour period.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toxteth-Against-The-Riots/139844202770437.