New group to monitor police brutality


by Guest    
11:30 am - February 1st 2010

Tweet       Share on Tumblr

contribution by Kevin Blowe

With the police adopting an increasingly confrontational and often violent approach to maintaining ‘order’ at public protests, it has increasingly become essential for protesters to: have trained legal observers present, collect information that may be helpful in court and assist activists who are arrested or need medical attention.

With little confidence in public bodies like the Independent Police Complaints Commission and to try and ensure that attention remains focused on the policing of protest, four experienced organisations have set up the Police Monitoring Network to train and collate information from ‘police monitors’ at demonstrations around the country.

Members of the network include the legal team from Climate Camp, FITwatch (who monitoring oppressive surveillance by police ‘forward intelligence’ teams), the Legal Defence and Monitoring Group (who provide legal observers at demonstrations and grew out of the Trafalgar Square Defendants Campaign and Poll Tax Prisoners Support Group) and Newham Monitoring Project (an east London community organisation that has supported black communities to challenge police misconduct since 1980).

They are supported by the civil liberties organisation, the Campaign against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC), and by solicitors with expertise in civil actions against the police.

At the G20 protests in April 2009, senior police officers sanctioned excessive force with an apparent expectation, based on previous experience, that the press and the public wouldn’t that much care about protesters.

Taken aback by the spotlight placed upon them by the storm of complaints that followed, particularly the video evidence from members of the public that provided graphic evidence of violent conduct, the police have been forced onto the defensive.

It also resulted in the extremely low-key policing of last summer’s Climate Camp in Blackheath. Whether the review will really change anything and how long the new approach to policing protests will last, however, is far from certain. Much will depend on maintaining a constant level of scrutiny on police tactics and conduct.

Police monitors will complement the role provided by legal observers in ensuring the safety of demonstrators but will focus specifically on scrutinising the actions of the police – whether, for example, police officers are covering identification numbers or psyching themselves up for violence and when police commanders are using tactics like ‘kettling’ that greatly increase the likelihood of confrontation.

Training for police monitors, aimed initially at those who already have experience as legal observers, is planned for March 2010 and a website will be up and running shortly.
For further information, contact FITwatch at defycops@yahoo.co.uk

————
This report of the meeting was written for LC by Kevin Blowe, who blogs here

   Tweet   Share on Tumblr   submit to reddit  


About the author
This is a guest post.
· Other posts by


Story Filed Under: Blog ,Civil liberties ,Crime


Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.


Reader comments


1. Flowerpower

The way things are going it won’t be long before we see fast cars with flashing lights being driven by criminals in hot pursuit of the Police.

2. Shatterface

First thing, overturn the ban on taking photographs. All else will follow.

CCTV is useless because it just goes ‘missing’.

3. douglas clark

I agree with Shatterface that open policing would not require banning or sequestration of photographs. Perhaps the idea that evidence can be held by individual citizens, and have the protection of the law, ought to have much greater protection that it currently appears to do?

4. Tom (iow)

Of course there is not actually any real ban on taking photos in public, but many police seem to think they can unilaterally impose one.

5. douglas clark

Tom (iow),

Perhaps the idea that the photographs have evidentiary rights, on their own basis, and owned by the publoic, should mean that the Police have no right to them?


Reactions: Twitter, blogs
  1. Chris Paul

    RT @libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J

  2. Daniel Selwood

    RT @libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J

  3. Kevin Blowe

    RT @emilyapple: RT @libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J (article by @copwatcher)

  4. HarpyMarx

    RT @emilyapple: RT @libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J (article by @copwatcher)

  5. Paul Lewis

    Activists groups have set-up a 'Police Monitoring Network' . They're seeking legal observers. http://bit.ly/9PNszY

  6. Wes Streeting

    RT @paul__lewis: Activists groups have set-up a 'Police Monitoring Network' . They're seeking legal observers. http://bit.ly/9PNszY

  7. Radical Images

    RT @paul__lewis: Activists groups have set-up a 'Police Monitoring Network' . They're seeking legal observers. http://bit.ly/9PNszY

  8. Gareth Winchester

    RT @libcon New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/d5cyb9

  9. tashuk

    RT @paul__lewis: Activists groups have set-up a 'Police Monitoring Network' . They're seeking legal observers. http://bit.ly/9PNszY

  10. piombo

    OFCOP: the Police Monitoring Network http://bit.ly/bNiMXA #policestate #g20 #climatecamp

  11. Anton Howarth

    RT @paul__lewis: Activists groups have set-up a 'Police Monitoring Network' . They're seeking legal observers. http://bit.ly/9PNszY

  12. Liberal Conspiracy

    New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J

  13. Tweet4Labour

    RT @libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J

  14. Police State UK

    RT @libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J (article by @copwatcher)

  15. Jenny Jones

    New police monitoring network set up. To show the urgent need (long ignored by other parties) of good police training http://bit.ly/aNZkqp

  16. Emily Apple

    RT @libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J (article by @copwatcher)

  17. sunny hundal

    New group to monitor police brutality and protect protest rights: http://bit.ly/9PNszY (can anyone help them with blog?)

  18. Ben Bailes

    RT @paul__lewis: Activists groups have set-up a 'Police Monitoring Network' . They're seeking legal observers. http://bit.ly/9PNszY

  19. Claire Butler

    RT @libcon New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/d5cyb9

  20. uberVU - social comments

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by libcon: New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bEEY5J…

  21. Tweets that mention Liberal Conspiracy » New group to monitor police brutality -- Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by sunny hundal, Paul Lewis, Wes Streeting, Liberal Conspiracy, Gareth Winchester and others. Gareth Winchester said: RT @libcon New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/d5cyb9 [...]

  22. harmitkambo

    Liberal Conspiracy » New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bDEZrK

  23. Matt - My Tunstall

    RT @harmitkambo: Liberal Conspiracy » New group to monitor police brutality http://bit.ly/bDEZrK





Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.