1981 Moss Side riot
Encyclopedia
The Moss Side riot happened in July 1981 in and around Moss Side
in Manchester, England.
On 8 July 1981 more than 1,000 young people besieged the police station at Moss Side, Manchester. During this a policeman was shot with a crossbow
bolt through his leg
The riot lasted for some 72 hours over three nights, with much burning and looting of shops all the way down Princess Road, Clarendon Road and the surrounding areas, including Rusholme
. It ended on 11 July when the Manchester police went in hard: The Greater Manchester Police Tactical Aid Group was deployed in mobile snatch squads using vans to drive into groups of rioters and then to make arrests. In the space of 2 hours 150 people were arrested with no police injuries reported.
James Anderton
's force were the only force in Britain kitted out with full riotsquad gear; unlike in Brixton and Toxteth there were none of the usual British tall police helmets visible, just white riotsquad-style crash helmets. In terms of tactics and equipment GMP were the prepared english police force at the time of the 1981 riots. Anderton had allowed community leaders time to disperse the crowds over the previous two days with no result and his decisive intervention and use of snatch squads set the benchmark for effective public order policing in the UK
As Moss Side had been a key settlement for Asia
n and Caribbean
immigrants over the previous 30 years, racial tension was seen as a key factor in the riots, as was the mass unemployment in Moss Side brought on by the recession
; although unemployment was at a postwar high by this stage, it was much higher than the national average in Moss Side.
There were also allegations of police officers racially abusing some of the black youths who were rioting.
Afterwards the Moss Side section of the Princess Road (a main road south from Manchester center) was closed for several days while adjacent buildings and gas mains damaged in the riot and fires were made safe.
Moss Side
Moss Side is an inner-city area and electoral ward of Manchester, England. It lies south of Manchester city centre and has a population of around 17,537...
in Manchester, England.
On 8 July 1981 more than 1,000 young people besieged the police station at Moss Side, Manchester. During this a policeman was shot with a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
bolt through his leg
The riot lasted for some 72 hours over three nights, with much burning and looting of shops all the way down Princess Road, Clarendon Road and the surrounding areas, including Rusholme
Rusholme
-Etymology:Rusholme, unlike other areas of Manchester which have '-holme' in the place name is not a true '-holme'. Its name came from ryscum, which is the dative plural of Old English rysc "rush": "[at the] rushes"...
. It ended on 11 July when the Manchester police went in hard: The Greater Manchester Police Tactical Aid Group was deployed in mobile snatch squads using vans to drive into groups of rioters and then to make arrests. In the space of 2 hours 150 people were arrested with no police injuries reported.
James Anderton
James Anderton
Sir Cyril James Anderton CBE is a British former police officer who served as Chief Constable of Greater Manchester from 1975 to 1991.-Career:...
's force were the only force in Britain kitted out with full riotsquad gear; unlike in Brixton and Toxteth there were none of the usual British tall police helmets visible, just white riotsquad-style crash helmets. In terms of tactics and equipment GMP were the prepared english police force at the time of the 1981 riots. Anderton had allowed community leaders time to disperse the crowds over the previous two days with no result and his decisive intervention and use of snatch squads set the benchmark for effective public order policing in the UK
As Moss Side had been a key settlement for Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
immigrants over the previous 30 years, racial tension was seen as a key factor in the riots, as was the mass unemployment in Moss Side brought on by the recession
Early 1980s recession
The early 1980s recession describes the severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The United States and Japan exited recession relatively early, but high unemployment would continue to affect other OECD nations through at least 1985...
; although unemployment was at a postwar high by this stage, it was much higher than the national average in Moss Side.
There were also allegations of police officers racially abusing some of the black youths who were rioting.
Afterwards the Moss Side section of the Princess Road (a main road south from Manchester center) was closed for several days while adjacent buildings and gas mains damaged in the riot and fires were made safe.
See also
- Brixton riot (1981) - London
- Chapeltown riot (1981) - Leeds
- Handsworth riotsHandsworth riotsThe Handsworth riots may refer to:* 1981 Handsworth riots* 1985 Handsworth riots* 1991 Handsworth riots...
- Birmingham - Toxteth riotsToxteth riotsThe Toxteth riots of July 1981 were a civil disturbance in Toxteth, inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community...
- Liverpool - List of riots
- Urban riotsUrban riotsRiots often occur in reaction to a perceived grievance or out of dissent. Riots may be the outcome of a sporting event, although many riots have occurred due to poor working or living conditions, government oppression, conflicts between races or religions....