On Sunday the Guardian began publishing part two of its groundbreaking collaboration with the London School of Economics – Reading the Riots.

The second part of this comprehensive study into the English riots of last summer has involved more than 300 interviews with those affected by the riots, including 130 police officers deployed in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Salford and Liverpool.

The study found that police expect a repeat of the riots, and are concerned about whether they will have the resources to cope with future unrest on that scale.

Officers interviewed said further disorder was likely, with many citing worsening social and economic conditions as the potential cause of further riots.

There was considerable concern among police that their ability to deal with any future disorder may be affected by the scale of the budget cuts currently affecting forces. You can read a summary of the findings from our interviews with 130 police officers here, and you can read all our coverage in full here.

To discuss the findings today we are pleased to welcome Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Paul McKeever, the chairman of the Police Federation, and Sir Denis O'Connor, the outgoing chief inspector of constabulary.

McKeever will be online from midday until 1pm.

Orde will be online from 12.30pm to 1.30pm.

O'Connor will be online from 1.15pm to 2pm.

Sir Hugh Orde joined the Metropolitan police in 1977 where as a commander he developed Operation Trident, an operation set up to deal with serious drug-related crime in London. In September 2002 he was appointed chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and during his seven years in that job he increased Catholic recruitment and won the support of unprecedented numbers of nationalists and Catholics. He was appointed vice-president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, the senior officers' forum for best practice in the police, in 2006, and in 2009 became its president.

Paul McKeever's policing career began in 1977 at the Metropolitan police. He served in Lambeth until 1989 and policed the Brixton riots in 1981 and 1985. He was elected to the Police Federation, the staff association for rank and file officers, in 1992, and appointed chairman in 2008.







Sir Denis O'Connor is the outgoing chief inspector of constabulary. He joined the Metropolitan police in 1968 and was chief constable of Surrey police from 2000 to 2004. O'Connor has reviewed the 2011 riots, as well as the policing of public protests following the G20 in London in 2009, value for money in the police force, antisocial behaviour, and policing in a time of austerity.

What do they think of the findings? Do they agree that riots are likely to happen again? Does the ongoing recession play a part in that? Will the police cuts leave forces less able to tackle future unrest? Should the Metropolitan police have called in more help from outside forces sooner, and made sure all its radio equipment was totally compatible?



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