Petition Allow the Police to use Lathi, Indian-style bamboo crowd control sticks, on rioters

Rather than having our courts and prisons flooded with low-level criminals in times of social unrest - like the recent riots - and thus causing an additional burden on our over-stretched justice system it would be far better if police were able to dispense an appropriate level on on-the-spot punishment using the Lathi (Indian bamboo stick). Moderate corporal punishment to rioters and looters during an outbreak of unrest would have far more beneficial effects on the perpetrators - who would directly understand there are consequences to their actions - and the public who could see the immediate dispensing of justice.

The administering of moderate punishment in the street as a alternative to protracted and costly court action would also have the advantage of reducing the burden on the tax payer who ultimately might have to pay for any convicted criminal to stay in prison.