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Adapting to protest: report

The report on policing protests was published by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for England, Wales and Northern Ireland (HMIC). HMIC is the body that inspects policing in the public interest. 

The British policing model works well at most everyday public events, the report said. But at highly-charged events such as big demonstrations, the report said, the model's core values are being tested and are in danger of being undermined. 

Introducing the report, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary said that the traditional British policing model is well suited to protest events.

Public order policing: consent is crucial

The Chief Inspector warned against winning public order through tactics that appear unfair, aggressive or inconsistent. He said this risks losing public consent and damaging the reputation of the police service and individual officers alike.

The properly regulated use of force by the police, the report states, is "central to securing public support for – and confidence in – public order policing".

Protests like the climate camps at Kingsnorth (Kent), Blackheath (London) and more recent events in Leeds, Manchester and Birmingham, are critical events, the Chief Inspector said. The police response to high-profile cases like these can "impact on wider public confidence".

Need for consistency

The Chief Inspector said that public order events have exposed regional differences in the training, standards and leadership of public order policing. These are:

• an absence of clear standards on the use of force - some forces train officers in shield tactics that are not approved in other regions
• the correct use of public order powers like stop and search and photographing protesters - keeping photos can raise human rights issues
• the understanding of the law can vary between forces - especially in relation to stop and search
• inconsistent equipment - there's no common standard for riot gear
• outdated training and guidance - the current tactics training manual was written in 2004

Areas for improvement

The report suggests ways of improving how the police handle protests. Among other things, it calls for:

• nurturing of the British model of policing
• clear principles on the use of force
• guidance on use of police powers to gather protesters' personal data
• better training for public order policing
• monitoring of the use of stop and search

'Adapting to Protest – Nurturing the British Model of Policing' was published on 25 November 2009. The report can be accessed via the link below:

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More on Directgov

• Right to protest (government, citizens and rights section)

• Public protest and trade disputes (government, citizens and rights section)