Boredom cited as a factor that led to Enfield riots (From Enfield Independent)

Boredom cited as a factor that led to Enfield riots, Enfield Council report finds

10:29am Thursday 5th January 2012 in News By David Hardiman, Reporter

BOREDOM over the summer holidays, anger at the police, and poverty were among the reasons behind August’s riots in Enfield, the first local study has found.

More than 50 people were at the Dugdale Centre, in London Road, last night to hear the initial findings of Enfield Council’s commission into the violence.

The six-member cross-party panel – which has been meeting weekly since October – found there was no single reason behind the disorder in Enfield, but that rioters felt marginalised in society and were motivated by boredom and greed.

The report also found that a major reason for rioting in Enfield was merely its good transport links with Haringey and central London, which allowed looters based outside of the borough to travel into the town.

Councillor Christine Hamilton, chairman of the commission, said: “A great deal of work has gone into discovering what drove people into the streets to cause unrest.

“Our aim is to find the root causes of the chaos and destruction in August, and make sure it never happens again.”

Councillors interviewed people involved or affected in the disorder, including convicted looters, traders, young people who use its youth centres and police chiefs.

The initial report was damning of the lack of police presence in Enfield Town on August 7, which allowed looters to gather, and recommended that Enfield Police review the number of its officers who come from ethnic minorities.

It also said police should work more closely with schools to engage with young people.

The council said it should start a complete review of its youth programme to try to attract more youngsters, and spend more cash on street-based youth workers to ensure a visible presence around the borough.

The findings will be presented to the council’s cabinet later this month, before being fed into the national inquiry into the disorder.