Rioters Blame Police For August Unrest
Distrust, anger and frustration with police were the key reasons for the August riots across England, according to the biggest study into their cause.
A survey of 270 rioters carried out by The London School of Economics (LSE) and The Guardian also found opportunism was a contributing factor.
But of those questioned, 85% said policing was an "important" or "very important" factor in why the riots happened.
It was second only to poverty, which saw 86% of rioters class it as one of the main causes of the four consecutive nights of unrest during the summer.
LSE appointed experts analysed 1.3 million words from first-person accounts of rioters who took part in the disturbances, as part of the project called Reading the Riots.
The research also included analysis of over two and half million riot-related tweets.
Although antipathy towards police was found to be the key force behind the riots which began on August 6 this year, the study revealed a complex mix of political, social and economic grievances also contributed to the unprecedented trouble.
According to the data, 80% of rioters said government policy was an "important" or "very important" cause of the riots, with unemployment scoring 79%, the shooting of Mark Duggan scoring 75% and social media - which is believed to have helped facilitate the spread of the trouble across the UK's cities - scoring 74%.
Many of those questioned admitted opportunism, or a chance to get hold of "free stuff" spurred their involvement.
Others cited a sense of injustice, describing the riots as a chance to get back at police - some 70% of interviewees said they had been stopped and searched in the past year.
Those involved in the riots were mainly young males but from a cross-section of local communities, the study found.
Just under half of those interviewed in the study were students. Of those who were not in education and were of working age, 59% were unemployed.
Although half of those interviewed were black, people who took part in the disorder did not consider these "race riots".
Poor parenting and gangs were also said to be an important cause of the trouble, which led to the deaths of five people and saw more than 4,000 arrested.
Analysts said the view that the police were "the biggest gang out there" was a reoccurring theme among rioters.
The riots broke out in Tottenham, north London, on August 6, following the fatal shooting by police of Mr Duggan, 29. It then spread to other parts of the capital and other English cities including Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Salford.
But critics say sour relations between police and the public is an out-of-date excuse.
Andrew Gilligan, London editor of The Daily Telegraph, said: "Unlike in the 1980s, when there was genuine grounds for grievance between the community and the police in lots of inner-city areas, relations between the police and the community in places like Tottenham have improved greatly.
"I don't think anyone can or should deny that. And I think a lot of the time this is just an excuse.
"Now, if people are complaining that they're being stopped and searched, well, If they're criminals and rioters perhaps they deserve to be stopped and searched."
