LONDON – More than 700 people have been charged with violence, disorder and looting in relation to the riots that shook London last week, police said Saturday.
Thousands of extra police officers were watching over the streets of Britain and reported no major disorder so far on the first weekend since rioters raged through suburbs and town centres.
Hundreds of stores were looted, buildings were set ablaze and five people died amid the mayhem that broke out last Saturday in London and spread over four nights across England.
Metropolitan Police said 1,271 suspects have been arrested and 745 of those have been charged in connection with the unrest in London, which saw the worst of the violence.
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Across the country, more than 2,100 people have been arrested.
Courts in London, Birmingham and Manchester have stayed open around the clock since Wednesday to deal with hundreds of alleged offenders.
Although the rioters came from all Britain’s ethnic communities, the violence stirred fears of heightened racial tensions – especially in Birmingham, where three South Asian men were killed Tuesday when they were hit by a car, reportedly driven by black youths.
Police said Saturday that five men between the ages of 16 and 28 – all from the Birmingham area – are currently in custody on suspicion of murder. Two of the men were arrested late Friday and police were given extra time to question the three others who were arrested earlier this week.
Britain’s police have come under fire for not responding strongly enough to the initial disorder. Prime Minister David Cameron said there were “far too few police were deployed onto the streets. And the tactics they were using weren’t working.”
His office said late Friday that he had enlisted the help of William Bratton, the former New York police chief, to consult on tackling gang violence in Britain.
Downing Street said Cameron had spoken with Bratton and thanked him for agreeing to make himself available for a series of meetings in the U.K. this fall to share his expertise in tackling gang violence.
Bratton “will be providing this advice in a personal capacity and on an unpaid basis,” it added.
Bratton told The Associated Press on Friday evening, however, that he’s giving a free consultation that he hopes will turn into a paid contract.
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