Climate Camp 2009 Part IV
Posted By fotdmike on September 19, 2009
It remains to be seen whether this new-style policing was a one-off occurrence, specific to the Climate Camp and Camp-related protests, or if it will be adopted for other protests too.
Concluding the present series of observations on the 2009 Climate Camp at Blackheath, London, 26th August to 2nd September
“Cops on site!”
Such was the cry that became oh so familiar at last year’s Climate Camp at Kingsnorth in Kent.
Much has since been written about that, and the policing thereof featured in a review by HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary), with the cops coming in for some long-overdue and totally merited criticism.
None of which would have occurred (probably) had it not been for the unfortunate tragedy that marred the G20 protests earlier this year (the tragedy that placed one more needless death at the cops’ door), triggering a much-needed debate on the policing of protest as a whole.
So have the police taken all the criticisms to heart? Have they fully embraced all the recommendations and decided to try to regain the trust of the community at large? Have they really learned the lesson that their credibility as impartial upholders of law & order has been shot to hell?
Well, judging by their behaviour at the Blackheath Climate Camp one could be forgiven for thinking so.
But they have so often abused the authority of their office that I suspect it’ll take a lot more than the “friendly policing” of one Climate Camp to persuade us, and more particularly protesters, that this isn’t just one more cynical ruse on their part.
In fact it came as little surprise to me to discover the low-profile approach being adopted by the cops at Climate Camp. What truly did surprise me though was the degree to which that approach had been implemented.
Following the widespread public debate on the policing of protest (prompted in no small part, though it galls me to admit it, by The Guardian… though not overlooking the stirling efforts of the Climate Camp legal team either) it would have been rather surprising had the police not implemented some sort of “softly softly” approach.
If nothing else its an indication of their acknowledgement that public perception of their role is important insofar as it can impact their ability to “do the job”.
In this context I found it most telling that the HMIC review into public order policing observed:
“We are in an age where consent cannot be assumed and policing, including public order policing, should be designed to win the consent of the public”
p42 ch4 “Police Preparation and Planning for G20″ from the HMIC Review into Policing Protest pub. 7 July 2009
As far as I can determine this is the first real indication there’s been that folk in the mainstream are finally waking up to the fact that the so-often used excuse rolled out by the police to justify their excesses (acting “by public consent”) is of course a complete nonsense… as I first observed in an article way back in October 2006.
Consequently I was fully anticipating a much reduced police presence at Climate Camp.
Something along the lines of maybe 50-100 cops, possibly in hiviz jackets and wearing the traditional bobby helmets, maintaining perhaps a fairly relaxed loose cordon around the site. (And minus the blanket stops & searches of course!)
What I wasn’t expecting was an almost complete absence of visible police presence… though no doubt they were all there, waiting in the wings, just out of sight somewhere.
What I actually saw were a couple of police vans (one of which, so I was informed, was a mobile police station… that was apparently withdrawn at some stage as “not being needed”!) a cop car or two floating by occasionally, and a CCTV-bearing cherrypicker overlooking the campsite from a local TA centre (I think).
An occasional and very casual two-officer patrol outside the Camp’s perimeter, and periodic visits from the cops’ Silver Commander and entourage.
And that was about it for the campsite itself, for the entire duration of its stay.
An off-site protest at Barclays Bank, Canary Wharf on Friday 28th was unusual in experiencing a similar lack of the boys in blue (as I’ve described in Part III of this little series).
The march from Trafalgar Square to BP and thence onward to the Shell Centre (on Tuesday 1st September) saw a rather heightened police presence, but still not to the excessive level that previous Camps have experienced. And no riot cops in evidence… or none that I saw at least!
Moreover, wherever interactions between cops and protesters occurred it appeared they were conducted in a far more civilised manner than has become the norm in recent years.
My understanding is that there were some scuffles at the RBS protest. I don’t know. I wasn’t there. Nor do I have any knowledge of incidents that may have occurred elsewhere.
Certainly as far as the events I attended were concerned (Barclays Bank, BP, and Shell etc) nothing really untoward occurred. A bit of graffiti at Barclays, a letter “S” removed from the fascia at Shell.
And I doubt any of the incidents (even at RBS) would have merited any higher level of policing than was actually deployed.
In fact, according to Chief Superintendant Helen Ball, there had been only one arrest in seven days, and police were hailing their approach a “success”… as though it were some sort of victory.
Nothing of the sort!
If anything, whatever lack of conflict situations and incidents may be attributable to the de-escalation of the police stance simply serves to underline how entirely disproportionate previous protest policing has been.
It also lends considerable weight to the claim often put forward by protesters, and indeed that I’ve witnessed myself, that many “incidents” are directly attributable to police provocation in one form or another.
One fairly predictable consequence of the lack of confrontation between protesters and police was an increasing loss of interest in the Camp by the mainstream media.
This is something of a mixed blessing. Whilst on the one hand “negative” press coverage of the Camp and related events is obviously not welcomed, on the other hand media attention is of course necessary if the real message of the Camp is to reach a wider audience.
It remains to be seen whether this new-style policing was a one-off occurrence, specific to the Climate Camp and Camp-related protests, or whether it will be adopted for other protests too.
Nor am I persuaded that this change in approach has been adopted for the right reasons. I suspect it derives more from a concern about image and public relations than it does from a recognition that the way in which protests such as G20 and Kingsnorth were policed was, quite simply, fundamentally wrong… far more suited to some petty dictatorship or fascist regime than a supposedly “free and democratic” society.
Which, in the longer term, suggests there may well be a sneaky return to violent and repressive-style policing once the dust from G20 etc has finally settled.
I hope I’m wrong.
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