Training | 2009.07.07
G20 police were 'unclear on kettling law'
Chief inspector of constabulary recommends national overhaul of police approach to demonstrations
Senior Metropolitan police commanders given the task of maintaining order at the G20 rally this spring did not understand their legal duties when they decided to contain thousands of protesters near the Bank of England, according to an analysis of the force\'s performance released today by the police watchdog.
Denis O\'Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, recommended a national overhaul of the police approach to demonstrations in a report today on the G20 protests , describing the current practice as "inadequate" and belonging to a "different era".
O\'Connor refused to name commanders who did not "understand" the law lords\' ruling over kettling, the police tactic that corrals large numbers of people in the streets without food or water. But his report said Met officers at the highest level were unaware of the legal criteria for using the tactic. "It wasn\'t [all the commanders] who didn\'t have that understanding," he said. "It was some."
He found Met commanders failed to consider human rights obligations "which are relevant to the use of police force".
His 68-page report, Adapting to Protest, presented the interim findings of HMIC\'s review of public order policing, initiated after the demonstrations in the City of London on 1 April, which resulted in the death of the newspaper vendor Ian Tomlinson and more than 250 complaints to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
It acknowledged that the policing operation, codenamed Glencoe, had been subjected to "enormous scrutiny" after the release of video evidence captured by protesters and bystanders, and noted that officers must now accept they are working in an environment in which there is an "instant visual record of police conduct".
O\'Connor\'s investigators combed through DVD clips of alleged police brutality handed to the Guardian in the weeks after G20 and received evidence from protesters and others, including businesses, affected by the events of the day. Police officers of all ranks involved in the operation were interviewed at length and the inspectorate was given access to the Met\'s internal planning documents and official logs.
All senior officers should from now on prioritise their obligation to facilitate protest, the report said, even when doing so could result in some level of disruption.
In a series of further recommendations, the report said police should strive to improve communication with protesters and the media and consider making officers wear badge numbers, which they are not statutorily obliged to do.
Consideration should be given to the impact of techniques adopted by riot officers that could cause serious injury, such as thrusting the sides of shields towards a protester\'s head, an action seen repeatedly in video footage circulated after the protests. "Some tactics used in public order have been medically assessed," O\'Connor said. "That tactic has not been assessed."
The training of riot officers, which currently focuses on preparation for violent clashes with crowds "with officers in Nato helmets, wearing protective equipment and carrying shields" should be reframed, the report said.
Officers should be taught the application of human rights law in protests and, rather than just schooled in the use of force, learn the full range of "policing styles and tactics" appropriate for demonstrations.
The review stopped short of arguing that officers should abandon the use of kettling, arguing instead that containment methods should be modified to ensure officers on the ground can use greater discretion to allow peaceful protesters and bystanders to leave an area.
Senior Met officers had lobbied hard to retain the use of kettling for large demonstrations, which they argued prevents widescale disruption spreading throughout a city. The review appeared to endorse that view, stating that there was a "clear rationale for the use of containment" at the Bank of England, but suggested the technique should be modified to ensure officers are given sufficient discretion to allow people out of police cordons.
Official guidance to police forces in England and Wales for dealing with demonstrations, the report said, should be rewritten. It found the nationwide policies disseminated to forces by the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) two years ago to be "inadequate for the world police are now operating in".
O\'Connor found senior officers had made mistakes even before the G20 demonstrations had taken place. While the Met found "no specific intelligence" that protesters planned to engage in co-ordinated disorder or violence, for example, the report said senior officers began from the standpoint that "unlawful protest will be dealt with robustly".
It added that while expecting violence, the Met appeared to give no consideration to the possibility that the G20 demonstrators wanted to stage a peaceful protest that could become disruptive. He urged officers planning for demonstrations to begin from "a presumption in favour of facilitating peaceful assembly".
"What the review identifies is that the world is changing, and the police need to think about changing their approach to policing protest," O\'Connor said. "We live in an age where public consent of policing cannot be assumed, and policing, including public order policing, should be designed to win the consent of the public."
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jul/07/g20-policing-report-kettling
