Amidst all of the chaos in the street riots in London, there’s something I really appreciate.
They are using security cameras to catch the predatory knuckleheads who are taking advantage of the situation to rob and loot. Not everyone believes the cameras have been used to good effect. And the surveillance camera system is already being criticized.
But I live in a city next to Oakland, and we saw the riots after Oscar Grant was killed by BART police on New Years 2010. Anarchists used the chaos of the protest as an excuse to smash windows and grab goods. Bad enough in and of itself, but on top of that, we all pay for their parasitic partying.
After cleaning up the mess, the shopkeepers simply file claims with their insurance companies and the government, which costs are simply passed on to the rest of us. On top of the costs of increased police presence.
We don’t have cameras like this in the US, and if we tried them, doubtless the overzealous first amendment crowd would be up in arms claiming it is an invasion of privacy. What privacy? The right to cause mayhem, rob and loot? It would seem to me that law abiding people have a lot less to hide than criminals.
If the London Police already have 600 people in jail, good for them. I’ve seen enough of the joyous kids in hoods dancing around and laughing in the background on the TV news coverage. And I hope the British use every legal advantage they have to get more names out of this crowd, and raid more houses to get back just as much of the loot as they can. Give the next generation of looters something to think about before they gleefully head out the door the next time a protest grows unruly.
OmbudsBen 
well said!