Guardian reporting friction between police chiefs and politicians. I thought Hugh Orde was pissed off in that BBC interview 'tother day! Beeb didn't repeat any of *that* interview later as evidently it didn't suit their brown-nosing agenda with Cameron, but continued to repeat the exact same inaccuracies they'd previously been reporting, which Orde had firmly (and irritatedly) corrected in interview. ie: that Cameron had organised an emergency meeting to sort it all out and had "authorised" stronger tactics like the use of water cannon and rubber bullets. All of which was clearly bullshit spin on the truth of the matter which was that once Cameron eventually got back from his holiday, Orde in fact "briefed" Cameron on strategies that Orde and other chief officers had already begun to implement..

Specifically, I think the police are not merely annoyed at being publicly criticised for "timid" policing by the Tories, but also at political attempts to usurp public glory for subsequent stronger tactics:

"Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, described the role of the politicians as "an irrelevance", pointing out that by Monday the police had decided to mobilise huge numbers of officers in London.
He said he briefed Cameron about the decision after the prime minister returned from holiday on Tuesday morning. Derek Barnett, president of the Police Chief Superintendents' Association, also said the return of the politicians did not make any difference.
"The decisions to deploy police officers in large numbers was made well in advance of politicians becoming involved," he said, adding that the point of politicians returning from holiday was only to give "a sense that there is now someone back in charge of the country and offering political leadership".
Asked about claims by Cameron that policing had been too timid, Godwin said: "I think, after any event like this, people will always make comments who weren't there."
He insisted that the changes in tactics and police numbers were due to commanders, not politicians. "I think the issue around the numbers, the issue around the tactics – they are all police decisions and they are all made by my police commanders and myself."
Political sources described Orde as incandescent with Tory attempts to take credit for toughening the police line, adding that it underlined his fear that government plans for elected commissioners will politicise the police."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/12/police-revolt-cameron-reform-agenda