THE head of the Metropolitan Police reacted cautiously to the prospect of acquiring water cannon to deal with any future outbreaks of rioting.
Former Merseyside chief constable Bernard Hogan-Howe acknowledged police needed to review their tactics in the light of last summer’s disturbances.
He said: “We have seen them (water cannon) in Northern Ireland, they have been effective there, but they do have their limitations.
“There is certainly an argument for them. In any country, if you have not used things before then, of course, nobody is going to go willingly towards this new approach.
“I am not a passionate zealot for this.
“Of course these things are expensive, most of the time they just sit there doing nothing, and they are not the answer.”
