Down to The Wire

Bill Bratton, a US police offer who has successfully introduced zero tolerance policing to New York and Los Angeles, has been working with David Cameron on gang violence, and described the UK's gang problem as "laughable" which outraged the anti-gun lobby and senior MPs. His comments were taken out of context as what he was describing was the scale of the problem in the UK compared with that in America, and also that Britain's gang members are US wannabes, copying the language and demeanour of their American counterparts. It was interesting to note that during last year's riots the police were continually referred to in BB messages as "the feds"; these gang members would relish an opportunity to wage war with Mr Bratton as he is exactly the type of hard-hitting, streetwise cop that features heavily on dramas like The Wire. However, his dismissal referral to UK gang members as "nitwits" is not something I could imagine Omar taking gladly....