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@Kidneys
I agree with the lost power of the police, they should be able to intimidate when necessary, not stand back and watch from behind red tape. I'm sure it was very distressing watching kids (that in reality posed little threat to them), loot and destroy their city, while they had to stand in a line and look on.
When I was a kid violins, I got in quite a lot of trouble rolling with the other kids in my estate, we would steal from eachother, we would steal from shops, rob mopeds and smash cars etc. But I still remember the first time I was caught, and I was shitting myself at the police, not to mention completely mortified that my parents would find out.. so I changed pretty fast after that.
My 'friends' however, didn't. Each contact with the police, rather than ramping up in consequence exponentially, kind of plateaud in significance. And for whichever reasons, their parents didn't make much impact on them either.
They started to enjoy the attention, official warnings and curfews became trivial.
So now, I know that a few of them are sitting in prison, at least one of them is dead, and the majority of others were most definitely taking part in the looting somewhere in the city. If I see them in the street, I have to avoid them for my own safety.
Personally, I believe humiliation and intimidation to be an important tool in police discipline. It sounds awful when I put it that way, but when a kid has nothing to lose, and no discipline at home, there aren't many other motivating factors for them.
/bring back the stocks?