Report of the Civil Liberties Panel - Public Order Policing

Report: 6
Date: 25 March 2010
By: Chief Executive

Summary

This report outlines findings of the Civil Liberties Panel into public order policing in the aftermath of G20 in April 2009.

A. Recommendations

That

1. Members endorse the findings of the Panel; and
2. Members decide how best to monitor the implementation of the MPS action plan.

B. Supporting information

1. The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) Civil Liberties Panel (the Panel) was set up as part of Met Forward, the MPA’s strategic plan. The panel is chaired by Victoria Borwick. Other members are Valerie Brasse, Dee Doocey, Kirsten Hearn, Jenny Jones, Clive Lawton, Joanne McCartney and Richard Tracey.

2. The Panel heard evidence from a number of sources, including MPS officers, officers that provided mutual aid during the policing operation on 1/2 April 2009 and Denis O’Connor, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary. The Panel held an open session at City Hall with protestors, other members of the public and members of the press and media, and a separate session with media representatives, to better understand their experiences. The Panel also spoke to Deborah Glass from the Independent Police Complaints Commission and Sir Hugh Orde, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). The Panel also visited the public order training facility at Gravesend.

3. The report, at Appendix 1, outlines the Panel’s findings and recommendations. The report was discussed with the Commissioner and AC Chris Allison on 18 February 2010.

4. The Panel acknowledges that the MPS polices thousands of public order events annually and that most of these of these pass without incident. The Panel also welcomes that acknowledgement by senior officers at the MPS that change is needed. The impact on public confidence in policing caused by a small number of instances of poor policing cannot be overestimated. The legal framework surrounding protest is complex and the right to protest is not absolute. There has been significant debate about the role of the police. We urge the Home Office to review policy and legislation in this area and set principles around the desired policing approach. In summary the Panel found:

• The law surrounding the right to protest is complex. The introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 means that individuals have fundamental rights enshrined in law in a way that they weren’t before. The police are expected to show a degree of tolerance to peaceful gatherings, where demonstrators are engaged in peaceful protest, even if it is not lawful. That said, the right to protest as defined by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights is qualified, and the police may impose lawful restrictions on such gatherings. The panel agrees with the HMIC conclusion and recommendation that the presumption underpinning planning for policing protest should always be in favour of peaceful assembly.
• Successful public order training is reliant on good team work and having appropriately trained, experienced and well briefed supervisors in the right places in order to ensure the strategy is being effectively implemented. There is significant scope to modernise the training on offer, to reflect the changing nature of protest, the need to observe human rights and to ensure that the MPS has sufficient trained capacity in place to meet its public order policing needs.
• Appropriate supervision and sanctions need to be in place to deter officers behaving unprofessionally during protests and from not properly displaying their identification numerals and the MPS should prioritise supplying sufficient embroidered numerals to all officers.
• The importance of communication cannot be underestimated in advance of an event - between the police and the event organisers and the police, the public and the media. The MPS can appear byzantine to outsiders, and it is therefore incumbent on them to make it easier to access the right officers by developing and widely disseminating clear guidelines on who to contact, and how. Officers also need to be more transparent about the strategies and tactics they are proposing to use, and why.
• The press play a key role in providing the transparency that is vital to ensure that public trust in policing is maintained, and there is much more the MPS can do to ensure better engagement with the media, particularly given the rise of the citizen journalist.
• The tactics and powers used by the police before, during and after demonstrations came in for considerable criticism. Better communication with protestors during demonstrations would go some way to addressing the problems identified, but there is also scope to consider whether some tactics and powers are inappropriate for use in public order situations.

5. The report makes several recommendations and the Panel expects the Assistant Commissioner (Central Operations) to report back regularly to the MPA on progress. The Authority is asked to agree whether this should be back to the Full Authority, to one of its sub-committees or to the Civil Liberties Panel.

C. Race and equality impact

There can be significant equality implications for the delivery of successful public order policing. When developing strategies and tactics, planners need to recognise the potentially different needs of protesters, particularly where there are children, older and disabled people present. Frontline police officers need to be able to identify potentially vulnerable people if containment is used, and to use their discretion when deciding to let people through cordons. The Panel’s report makes some recommendations about communicating with crowds. A variety of methods will be required to achieve this effectively.

D. Financial implications

The Panel was supported by MPA staff, as part of business as usual. The open meeting at City Hall incurred costs of approximately £4k, to cover venue hire, catering, sound equipment, webcast and provision of a transcript.

E. Background papers

• Civil Liberties Panel Terms of Reference, Full Authority July 2009.

F. Contact details

Report author(s): Siobhan Coldwell, Head of Policing Policy, Scrutiny and Oversight, MPA

For more information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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