to have to go full on army in the streets is a direct result of the culling of front line police roles.
Playing devil's advocate here in relation to your point, isn't that a better use of limited funds?
If we accept (for this example) that more police wouldn't have prevented this. Then using the forces to step in and fill a shortfall for an uncommon event makes more sense than having extra permanent police.
My house caught fire back in the 2002 fireman's strike, and a bunch of squaddies came round. Seriously, you do not want a bunch of squaddies doing any jobs other than whatever it is squaddies do.
Playing devil's advocate here in relation to your point, isn't that a better use of limited funds?
If we accept (for this example) that more police wouldn't have prevented this. Then using the forces to step in and fill a shortfall for an uncommon event makes more sense than having extra permanent police.