25th November 2009
The Police Deliver Scathing Attack...on the Police
Mark Hanson
I had a fear. The review of the methods used by the police in their public order role by Dennis O’Connor, the chief inspector of constabulary, has allayed that fear.
It was not an obvious source of an unbiased criticism, and there were suspicions that the report would turn out to be a whitewash, yet the final report is scathing and condemning of police tactics used during public protests.
The whitewash seemed close to coming, as once it became apparent to the Metropolitan Police that they would be severely criticized an attempt was made to suppress certain recommendations. That callous misuse of public funds to further the Met’s unaccountability was dismissed.
The final report has been widely applauded, and Rabel joins in that applaud as the report seemingly has taken an independent and sensible look at the evidence.
Most heartening is the warning by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary that the police face a serious risk of their status of enjoying public consent, an that urgent action is needed to avert this. It has been an argument of Rabel since the tragic death of Ian Tomlinson and other events at the G20 summit, that confidence in the police has been badly compromised, and that action needs to be taken in both the political and police worlds.
The danger of the police becoming “oppressors” rather than upholders of public order has become more apparent since the G20 in April. This new report is the first time that official processes have realised this danger.
It remains to be seen whether Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, or Gordon Brown have the courage to put into effect the recommendations of this report. Too often in the recent months have the political masters distanced themselves from the erroneous practices of the police with the prepared comment “we have no control over operational matters”.
Further, many of the laws that the police have used to justify harassment of and intrusion into “undesirable” political activists and activities have been passed by this Labour Government. There is a continuing risk that Labour “principles” will prevent the Government from admitting that mistakes have occurred and that they have a responsibility to put them right. We must not let that happen.
