2009-06-29
Police must urgently review their tactic of 'kettling' demonstrators, MPs investigating the G20 protests say today.
In a damning report, the Commons home affairs committee says holding protesters in a small area for hours is unacceptable.
The first major review of the 7million pounds operation also said officers who work with their identity numbers hidden or missing should face the 'strongest possible' disciplinary measures.
It concluded: 'Above all, the police must constantly remember that those who protest on Britain's streets are not criminals but citizens motivated by moral principles, exercising their democratic rights.
'The police's doctrine must remain focused on allowing this protest to happen peacefully. Any action which may be viewed by the general public as the police criminalising protest on the streets must be avoided at all costs.'
Police have been heavily criticised for their conduct at demonstrations by 35,000 people during the visit of world leaders to London in early April.
Newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, 46, died in clashes in Central London, after being pushed to the ground. The officer who allegedly shoved him has been suspended and could face criminal charges.
Amateur videos appear to show protesters being pushed or hit by officers. More than 200 complaints of alleged police brutality at the protests have been made.
Today's report condemns the tactic of kettling, saying it is unacceptable to impose a blanket ban on movement.
Frontline officers must be given discretion to allow peaceful protesters to escape highly-charged events, MPs said.
They added that 'urgent action' is needed to ensure ID numbers are displayed at all times, on pain of the 'strongest possible' disciplinary action.
Senior officers have a 'personal responsibility' to enforce this.
MPs expressed concern that untrained and inexperienced officers were left in such a 'highly combustible atmosphere' at the frontline of the protests.
Overall the report found the operation was 'remarkably successful' with little disruption-to the capital, but said this may have been down to an 'element of luck'.
Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: 'It is clear that concerns about the policing of the G20 protests have damaged the public's confidence in the police, and that is a great shame.
'The ability of the public and the media to monitor every single action of the police through CCTV, mobile phones and video equipment should mean they take even greater care to ensure that all their actions are justifiable.'
LibDem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: 'Using untrained and inexperienced officers for such a high-profile and large policing operation is not only completely unacceptable, but dangerous, and obviously contributed to the breakdown in communication between officers and protesters highlighted by the report.'
Paul McKeever, chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said officers need a range of tactics to police public order situations, adding that ' containment must be proportionate to the circumstances and intelligence gathered' while being 'balanced against the need to take measures against the potential for much greater disorder'.
Anarchists who plotted to tear down security fences around the port at Calais and the Channel Tunnel in support for illegal migrants were thwarted by a massive police presence at the weekend.
The 2,000 protesters were almost outnumbered by French riot police. Ten of them, mostly British, were arrested.