MPA Civil Liberties Panel: Public order policing - Londoners have their say

72/09
6 November 2009

The Metropolitan Police Authority’s Civil Liberties Panel held an open meeting at City Hall on Thursday 5 November to hear directly from environmental organisations, protest groups and individual campaigners about the policing of demonstrations in London.

The meeting enabled participants, as well as those who could not attend but submitted written evidence, to voice their concerns about the nature and future direction of the policing of events.

Victoria Borwick, chair of the panel, said:

"This has been a valuable exercise and will positively inform the Civil Liberties Panel’s final report which will contain specific recommendations to the MPS to change the way they police demonstrations and protests for the better.

“This was the first time the Civil Liberties Panel has met with the public and we were overwhelmed by the positive response. I’d like to thank everyone who attended and all the people who sent in their contributions, and I would remind everyone that this is ongoing and we welcome your views – please can you let us have your comments by the end of the month so that we can include these in our study. Key words we heard again and again were sensitivity and proportionality. 

“I speak on behalf of the whole MPA when I state that demonstrating in public is an inalienable right of each and every one of us. What we are seeking to do is influence and thereby improve the way our police plan for, and facilitate, demonstrations."

Major themes which emerged during the meeting included:

• the policing of demonstrations must be proportionate and start from the belief that it will be a peaceful event rather than planning for a ‘worst case scenario’;
• police must differentiate between the vast majority of peaceful demonstrators and the small minority who wish to cause problems and react sensitively to each;
• the variety of laws must be enforced proportionately. There are too many instances of anti-terrorist legislation being applied over-rigorously and in questionable circumstances;
• an overwhelming recognition that it is unacceptable for police officers not to be clearly and permanently identifiable;
• police communication with the broader public via the media must be factual and objective, and should not present demonstrations as potential conflicts;
• the police should facilitate open media coverage of events and not impede access;
• recognising the diversity of protestors and the needs of individuals and groups, for example older people, families with young children and the disabled;
• recognising the needs of demonstrators who may need assistance to exit a situation or require medical assistance;
• concerns about the Territorial Support Group (TSG), their ability to police demonstrations proportionately and concerns about their selection and the focus of their training.

To add a degree of balance to the debate, the panel asked those attending for any examples they had of events that had been successfully policed. The consensus was that the Blackheath Climate Camp of August 2009 was far more sensitively policed, although concerns were still raised about the filming and photographing of those who attended the event.

In conclusion, Victoria Borwick said:

“The first hand experiences we heard will help us to understand the deep concerns that some members of the public have expressed around the policing of public protest; and this evidence gathering will inform our final report.”

Notes to editors

1. An online questionnaire to gather views of policing protest is available for completion on the MPA website www.mpa.gov.uk/clp/#survey. Alternatively, call 020 7202 0170 to request a paper copy (with freepost envelope) or complete the questionnaire over the telephone. Completed questionnaires should be returned by Monday 30 November 2009 to help inform the panel’s final report.

2. For more information about the Civil Liberties Panel please see www.mpa.gov.uk/clp

Victoria Borwick is available for interview

3. The open meeting was recorded and the webcast will be made available on the MPA website.

4. The Civil Liberties Panel was introduced in Met Forward, the MPA's mission statement for London’s police, as a means of securing public confidence in policing tactics in the capital and ensuring the Met maintains public trust:

‘Our duty, as London’s police authority, is to ensure the Met restores and maintains public trust. In order to support this, we will establish a Civil Liberties Panel of Authority members that will begin its work with a formal civil liberties scrutiny of the Met’s public order policing of violent disorder. Once the initial scrutiny is complete, the panel will continue both to monitor the situation and hear specific concerns from the public and human rights organisations.’ www.mpa.gov.uk/publications/metforward 

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