New council leader Richard Olszewski

HUNDREDS of ‘public order officers’ were standing by last night (Wednesday) as the Met prepared for reports that rioting might reach London boroughs.

And senior officers urged parents to play a role in keeping their children out of trouble. While examples of shops being boarded up were emerging in other boroughs in response to online rumours that far right groups were planning disorder, caution has taken place in Camden too with more patrols and reassurance visits to places of worships.

The Met said 100 people had been arrested in central London in the last week.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said: “We are using a range of specialist teams including mounted units, dog handlers, intelligence experts and evidence gatherers.

“We will be using retrospective facial recognition to help officers identify those behind criminal disorder. This technology can be used even when offenders are wearing masks.”

He added: “We ask parents to think carefully about where their children are today and in coming days. No-one wants to be caught up in potentially violent and criminal behaviour.”

The disorder in several cities followed the deaths of three girls stabbed at a summer dance school in Southport, but has in many cases been targeted at hotels used as temporary accommodation for asylum seekers.

Council leader Councillor Richard Olszewski said: “There is no place for hate in Camden, and I am proud to live and work in a borough where people from different backgrounds live side by side as neighbours and friends. “Our diversity is our strength, and we will do everything we can to ensure that every Camden resident feels reassured and safe.”

Councillors from across the political divide have signed a letter in today’s paper celebrating the borough’s diversity.

Cllr Olszewski said it was “understandable that many people will feel concerned about the safety of themselves and their families and friends” but added: “We are working closely with the police, who have increased patrols in Camden, and in particular around places of worship.”

He urged residents to report any hate crimes where they saw them.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer, both the Prime Minister and MP for Holborn and St Pancras, has warned anybody taking part in the violence that they would face convictions and prison terms.

In an opinion article for today’s New Journal, anti-racism campaigner Liz Wheatley, also the branch secretary of Camden Unison, called for people to turn out to show that people would not be divided by the attacks on refugees and others.  “Mobilising on the streets shows that we are the majority – not nazis, not bigots – and that they are our towns and cities where everyone is welcome whatever their race or religion,” she said.