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In the wake of the succession of tuition fee protests since 10th November, much attention has been focused on the actions of the Metropolitan Police. While the government has praised their control of “feral thugs” (David Cameron 10/12/10), accusations of aggression and brutality have flooded in from protesters and their families. A ‘chicken and egg’ style debate has arisen, with the central question of who instigated the violence being ferociously fought over in newspapers, on television and across social networks. But regardless of who is to blame, a clear pattern has formed through the weeks of protest. Police tactics have become increasingly aggressive as vandalism and violent clashes between officers and protesters have heightened in severity and frequency. At the largest protests on the 10th and 24th November and the 9th December, there has been a noticeable increase of the use of kettling and charges, both on foot and horseback.
These increasingly aggressive police tactics seem to be a response to criticism of the poor policing of the 10th November protest, when a small and unprepared police force was unable to prevent the occupation of Conservative Headquarters. The Metropolitan Police were lampooned for their inability to control the crowd that vandalised the Millbank Centre and were found to have grossly underestimated the scale of the event, drafting in only 225 officers to steward an estimated 50,000 protesters. Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson called the day “an embarrassment” (10/11/10) and it was clearly one he did not wish to be repeated.
In response, the 24th November, or ‘Day X’, marked a turning point in the policing of protests across the country. In London, the Met were out in unprecedented force, preventing protesters finishing a march from Trafalgar Square to Parliament and kettling thousands of students and supporters within minutes. Officers in riot gear refused to answer protesters’ questions and proceeded to imprison the crowd without explanation for eight hours. As tensions began to rise, the now infamous abandoned police van became the target for protesters’ anger and skirmishes broke out along the police line as people attempted to escape. On the other side of the line, onlookers and protesters who were unable to enter the kettle began to gather. Without warning, the observers were soon ordered to move back. When the crowd did not move, seemingly because they were trapped by those behind, riot police officers began hitting those at the front with shields and batons. I saw one protester, a boy of about seventeen, emerge from the crowd with a serious head injury. Blood was running from his temple down his face and soaking into his clothes. He appeared to be concussed and when I asked him what had happened he mumbled “I couldn’t move back. I was pushed. I couldn’t move back and they hit me.” A police medic refused to treat him. About an hour later, the onlookers, myself included, were subjected to a baton charge and then a mounted charge, which was originally denied by Commissioner Stephenson. The pre-emptive action of the Metropolitan police was defended under the supposition that if the march were not contained, ‘violence’ (read: vandalism) would have spread to other parts of London.
The 24th November seems to have provided a blueprint of police tactics for following protests. Most recently, on the 9th December, a similar pattern of kettling and charges emerged, but on a far greater scale and with more severe consequences. Many news channels reported only confrontations between armed protesters and police. Jody McIntryre, however, has drawn public attention to less defensible incidents. The student, who is a cerebral palsy sufferer, was pulled from his wheelchair and dragged across the ground at the 9th December protest. In a BBC interview, he was accused of provoking the police. He replied: “Do you really think a person with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair can pose a threat to a police officer who is armed with weapons?” Another victim of that protest was Alfie Meadows, who was taken into emergency surgery after being struck by an officer while leaving the protest. Both of these cases provide a warning. The use of force by the police, be it ‘reasonable’ or excessive, will always result in non-violent and defenceless protesters being injured.
Force is also an ineffective deterrent to violent protest. As policing has become more severe, protesters have become more militant. At the most recent protest on 9th December, some students who anticipated kettling and charges brought their own helmets, shields and weapons. And it is completely understandable. Imprisonment by kettling is inflammatory and even the most peaceful of protesters become radicalised when they witness police brutality.
The National Campaign Against Fees And Cuts have stated that there will be more protests in the New Year, and if the police continue to use these tactics, protesters will fight back in ever-greater numbers. The Metropolitan Police must severely review their strategy before the next wave of protests, or violence will continue to escalate on both sides.
As a student from Northern Ireland, I would have to say the Metropolitan Police have a lot to learn from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
Tactics such as 'kettling' and mounted police are not used by the PSNI because they simply do not work. They antagonise protestors and escalate the violence. After all, are the Metrolpolitan Police really saying that in the 21st century the best way to control protestors is to charge at them with horses?! Instead, PSNI officers are equipped with full height riot shields and simply stand in the way of protestors, letting them throw whatever the rioters want at them, but not being provoked into a violent reaction. Water cannons are used only in the most serious circumstances, and when Police officers themselves are under threat.
To maintain the confidence of the community in Northern Ireland, the PSNI has to show that it is completely independent of politics. The last Chief Constable of Northern Ireland Sir Hugh Orde, now president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, has said that the Met must make sure it does not appear to be "an arm of the state". To prevent this from happening, the Met really do need to review how they deal with protests that have the potential to turn violent, and to ensure that all of their officers obey the law, and if they do not, they are disciplined and possibly dismissed.
However, it is the responsibility of protestors not to get caught up in the moment, and to act responsibly as well, as instances such as deviating from the planned march route and acting as if they are in the right and the Police in the wrong even before anything has happened will only lead to further violence and the potential loss of support for their cause from the rest of the population.
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