British Prime Minister David Cameron's public support has dipped below 50 percent as a result of his handling of the riots that shook Britain last week, according to a poll released Saturday. The ComRes report, published in the U.K. daily newspaper The Independent, showed that 54 percent of the population felt that Cameron "has failed to provide the necessary leadership to take control of the rioting in London early enough." Twenty-nine percent disagreed with that claim and 16% said they didn't know. Seventy-one percent said that Cameron's austerity measures, which brought about cuts in the police force, needed to be reversed, while only 13% disagreed and 16% said they didn't know. Despite the criticism, 78% agreed with Cameron's stern call that anyone caught looting, regardless of how severely, be immediately imprisoned. Only 14% disagreed. In tandem with the public's eroding faith in him, Cameron has a new concern: His own police forces have bristled at his suggestion to bring former Los Angeles and New York Police chief, Bill Bratton, in as an advisor to deal with the rioters in the streets. "I am not sure I want to learn about gangs from an area of the U.S. that has 400 of them. It seems to me, if you've got 400 gangs, then you're not being very effective," Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said. Bratton, known throughout the world as "supercop," has been heralded as one of the most accomplished police chiefs in several decades. He left his post as Los Angeles Police Commissioner in 2009 after accomplishing six straight years of crime reduction. Prior to his post in California, Bratton led the New York City Police Department, achieving a 27% reduction in crime in his first few years, and overall leading one of the greatest crime reductions in New York City history. Bratton has partnered with London Metro Police in the past and was granted the honorary title of Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, one step below a knighthood, by Queen Elizabeth II. Meanwhile, British courts continue to try the rioters and looters. Out of the 1,225 arrested, 725 have so far been indicted.
