UK to look to US on how to fight street gangs

Declaring "we will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets," Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday that police across Britain had so far made more than 1,200 arrests over the country's worst civil unrest in memory.
Police levels London would remain elevated at 16,000 through the weekend, Cameron told an emergency session of parliament.
He promised tough measures to stop further violence and said "nothing should be off the table," including water cannons and plastic bullets.
"The whole country has been shocked (by the riots). ... It is criminality, pure and simple, and there is absolutely no excuse for it," Cameron told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
He said riot-hit businesses would receive help to get back on their feet, and promised to look to the United States for help in fighting the street gangs he blamed for helping spark Britain's riots.
Cameron told lawmakers that he would look to cities like Boston for inspiration. He also mentioned former Los Angeles and New York Police Chief Bill Bratton as a person who could help offer advice.
The government, police and intelligence services were looking at whether there should be limits on the use social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to spread disorder, he said.