31st January 2011
Police Use “More Extreme” Tactics
Mark Hanson
In the first taste of what the police have said shall be “more extreme tactics” against protesters, CS spray has been used against apparently peaceful demonstrators.
According to the Guardian the police have confirmed that CS spray was used during the arrest of a woman at a sit-down protest outside Boots in Oxford Street by the loosely organised protest group UK Uncut.
UK Uncut themselves claim that the woman was pushing a leaflet through the Boots store letterbox when she was arrested for “criminal damage”. Fellow protesters attempted, peacefully according to UK Uncut, to protect the woman when at least one officer sprayed the demonstrators with CS.
Last week Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said that the police may employ more extreme tactics in the face of increasing protests. Tactics that have already been deployed are serious developments, such as summary imprisonment in freezing temperatures, cavalry charges and hospitalisation of at least one protester because of baton strikes upon the head. The deployment of CS spray seems to indicate a further escalation of the police response to legitimate grievances.
It must be urged upon those who are conducting protests that peace must, as far as is possible, be preserved. It must also be impressed upon the police that their role is not to choose sides. Numerous instances in recent years have indicated that disenfranchised protesters are regarded as inferior to big corporate interests.
The student protests that took place over the weekend were, by and large, peaceful, with only isolated reports of trouble.
UK Uncut have condemned the tactics employed by the police at Boots, issuing a statement on their blog. Anna Williams, who saw the incident, said: "I condemn the violent behaviour of the police who have attacked a peaceful protest against tax avoidance, with three people being taken away in an ambulance." She added that the police action had been politically motivated.
