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8 September 2011
Last updated at 06:09 ET
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Live select committee
Home Secretary Theresa May has told MPs that the "majority of people involved" in the riots were not in gangs - according to the latest figures.
She told MPs that as arrests had continued, the percentage involved in gangs had dropped.
Although gangs were involved, their involvement may "not be as high as people first thought", she said.
More than 2,700 people were arrested after violence and looting spread from London to other English cities.
Gangs got much of the blame for the spread of disorder - Prime Minister David Cameron promised a "concerted, all out war on gangs and gang culture", a gangs taskforce has been set up and former police chief of Los Angeles and New York Bill Bratton is advising the government on how to crack down on gangs.
'Moving picture' Mrs May told the committee that the Metropolitan Police had been looking at the numbers of those arrested who had known gang affiliations and it appeared that "the majority of people involved were not individuals who were involved in gangs".
Asked who had been helping fuel disorder via social media, she said: "Some of it was coming from gangs, I think some of it would have been coming from others."
Although it was obvious that "gangs were involved", of arrests so far, she said only a quarter were "juveniles".
But she said she expected arrests to continue to rise "for some time" so evidence of who was involved would be a "moving picture".
"It is absolutely clear that we did see young people, in a wider sense than merely 'juveniles' out on the streets," she said.
'Sheer bravery' The home secretary said she would be hosting an international conference in October, "looking at other countries that have gang problems" - such as the US - but also at examples of work being done in the UK - including London and Strathclyde.
Asked whether gangs posed a threat to the 2012 Olympics being held in London - she said security planning had always considered the threat of public disorder, but since the riots they had looked at "whether there is anything we need to learn from the riots and policing the riots".
The riots began with public disorder in Tottenham, north London on 6 August - following a demonstration about a man who was shot dead by police.
Over the following days looting, arson and violence spread to different London boroughs, and other English cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leicester.
Mrs May told MPs it was "very difficult to say" what caused the riots - that there appeared to be different causes in different areas - and that any changes in policy should be done "on the basis of a proper analysis of who was involved".
The committee is also questioning MPs whose areas were affected and some of their constituents.
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Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.Live select committee
Home Secretary Theresa May has told MPs that the "majority of people involved" in the riots were not in gangs - according to the latest figures.
She told MPs that as arrests had continued, the percentage involved in gangs had dropped.
Although gangs were involved, their involvement may "not be as high as people first thought", she said.
More than 2,700 people were arrested after violence and looting spread from London to other English cities.
Gangs got much of the blame for the spread of disorder - Prime Minister David Cameron promised a "concerted, all out war on gangs and gang culture", a gangs taskforce has been set up and former police chief of Los Angeles and New York Bill Bratton is advising the government on how to crack down on gangs.
'Moving picture' Mrs May told the committee that the Metropolitan Police had been looking at the numbers of those arrested who had known gang affiliations and it appeared that "the majority of people involved were not individuals who were involved in gangs".
Asked who had been helping fuel disorder via social media, she said: "Some of it was coming from gangs, I think some of it would have been coming from others."
Although it was obvious that "gangs were involved", of arrests so far, she said only a quarter were "juveniles".
But she said she expected arrests to continue to rise "for some time" so evidence of who was involved would be a "moving picture".
"It is absolutely clear that we did see young people, in a wider sense than merely 'juveniles' out on the streets," she said.
'Sheer bravery' The home secretary said she would be hosting an international conference in October, "looking at other countries that have gang problems" - such as the US - but also at examples of work being done in the UK - including London and Strathclyde.
Asked whether gangs posed a threat to the 2012 Olympics being held in London - she said security planning had always considered the threat of public disorder, but since the riots they had looked at "whether there is anything we need to learn from the riots and policing the riots".
The riots began with public disorder in Tottenham, north London on 6 August - following a demonstration about a man who was shot dead by police.
Over the following days looting, arson and violence spread to different London boroughs, and other English cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leicester.
Mrs May told MPs it was "very difficult to say" what caused the riots - that there appeared to be different causes in different areas - and that any changes in policy should be done "on the basis of a proper analysis of who was involved".
The committee is also questioning MPs whose areas were affected and some of their constituents.
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