An extensive report by an independent government watchdog has ruled that police are overindulging demonstrators for groups like Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Extinction Rebellion (XR), and risk damaging their neutrality by engaging in politically-charged gestures such as “taking the knee”.
“We found that the police too often do not find the balance between protecting the rights of the protesters and preventing excessive disruption to daily life, which even peaceful protest can sometimes cause,” said Matt Parr, of Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).
“One of the things that have caused it to get out of kilter is that police don’t always do enough to assess the impact that peaceful protests have on the lives of local residents and businesses. So this has sometimes caused enormous disruption and it’s tipped the balance in favor of the protesters,” he said.
To support his view, Mr. Parr cited polling which shows that members of the public who believe significant disruption by protesters have a five-to-one majority among the general public, with those who support a so-called “zero-tolerance” approach enjoying a majority of four-to-one, according to the Telegraph.
“For some members of the public, it is difficult to understand why the police might not intervene in situations where protesters appear to be breaking the law,” Parr said, noting that while public opinion does not always have a direct bearing on whether or not a protest is lawful, it should be taken into account given the fact that “the British policing model is based on consent”.
Parr may have had in mind such incidents as police allowing Black Lives Matter demonstrators to destroy a historic statue in Bristol, with the senior police officer in charge at the time insisting that “it was the right thing to do for the safety of everyone.”
“No-one got hurt and we had no arrests in the whole protest. That is 10,000 passionate people. Bristol should be proud of itself,” asserted Superintendent Andy Bennett, heedless of the fact that the reason there were no arrests or clashes is that his officers simply allowed lawbreaking to take place unimpeded.
Police chief who did nothing as Black Lives Matter ripped down a historic statue gets a medal in Boris Johnson's New Year Honours (but @Nigel_Farage gets nothing) https://t.co/eWc1UP3fXH
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) December 31, 2020
The Inspectorate also cautioned police officers about being too quick to “take the knee” at Black Lives Matter protests, given the fact that the gesture has become synonymous with an activist movement.
Such actions, when police leaders fail to require a uniform approach, can put individual officers under unacceptable pressure — the report recalled one case in which “some officers chose to take the knee at a protest while another chose not to. This officer was then subjected to sustained abuse by the protesters until he followed suit.”
“It is really important that [police] activities are seen as neutral. Officers are not there to protest themselves. They should be careful of any actions that could be interpreted as supporting or being against one side in a protest. That would rarely be appropriate for them to do,” warned Parr.
His report also cited “incidents in 2019 when police officers were filmed dancing with Extinction Rebellion protesters and using skateboards on a cordoned-off bridge” during a series of climate change demonstrations which caused massive disruption and often broke the law.
WATCH as London police struggle to haul overweight Extinction Rebellion protester under arrest
And READ MORE here: https://t.co/3qZe7XBcad pic.twitter.com/WMXUdPGq65
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 4, 2020
Law enforcement and the judiciary have often seemed reticent to punish so-called protesters for left-leaning movements such as Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion, despite widespread public anger at their actions.
A BLM supporter who clambered onto the Cenotaph, the iconic national memorial to ‘The Glorious Dead’, and tried to set fire to the British flag adorning it was only brought to trial after many months, for example, was let off with a conditional discharge, as was another criminal who vandalized a statue of Admiral Nelson in Norfolk.
Even actual violence against police officers by BLM supporters has attracted soft, non-custodial sentences on occasion, with a man who hurled sections of metal fencing at fleeing officers recently being allowed to walk out of court with a suspended term.
No Prison for BLM Protester Who Hurled Metal Fences at Fleeing Police Officers https://t.co/3w7LSDrQ32
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) March 5, 2021
It is possible that double standards can be explained in part by fear rather than only bias, as Metropolitan Police chief Cressida Dick has previously admitted that the reason clearly unlawful Black Lives Matter protests have not been interfered with is that she was afraid that applying the law to them would result in “serious disorder”.
Read more at Breitbart
NSS! The way to deal with extremists is extremely, IMO. Zero tolerance. The Police work for the majority whose consent they require, not sociopathic minority activists with screwy beliefs they want to impose on us, Get them out of our way, legally. Or people will start doing it themselves, and these people will get what they deserve, seriously disordered. Time to set up direct response groups to deal properly with XR et al? If the Police won’t do their jobs, someone should. BNP have been quiet?
…and risk damaging their neutrality by engaging in politically-charged gestures such as “taking the knee”.
Risk?
No more Kids Gloves treatments for these crinimals time to start arresting and jailing them then going after those with support and finance them all no more allowing mobs to wreak a whole City its time they paid the price for their crinimal behavior
If one person vandalises a statue, it’s a crime, yet if a statue is vandalised in a throng of ten thousand it’s okay?
There’s safety in numbers, it would seem. Yet the vast majority probably have no real idea just what they are supporting.
I heard a professional sportsman and media figure giving his support. My reaction was that, as a father, he did not consider whether his parental role fits with the aims of key figures within the organisation. His wealth and success should also have been considered in a similar manner. He came across as having a paucity of knowledge on the subject, in that he had truly heard only one side of the debate.
It is not hard to learn more. One merely needs to look beyond the emotion of the moment.
As a centre-leftist, I have a simple rule: don’t do or say anything that one could regret twenty years later. Emotional responses are much more likely to cause regret than considered thought is.
Time shall not be kind to those who simply let emotion rule. It is the easy option, rather than the correct option. However, when one only hears one side of the debate, options do not arise.
Democracy only thrives in the presence of options. That is why this site matters.
When these same idiots who oppose all uses of Fossil Fuels block Traffic and the motorists sit there with their engines ideyling Yeah smart thinking you Eco-Freak Dim-Bulbs
If they had good Education not controled by the NEA and he Greens they would,nt be holding their stupid protests
June 28, 2005 Justices Rule Police Do Not Have a Constitutional Duty to Protect Someone
Although the protective order did mandate an arrest, or an arrest warrant, in so many words, Justice Scalia said, “a well-established tradition of police discretion has long coexisted with apparently mandatory arrest statutes.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/justices-rule-police-do-not-have-a-constitutional-duty-to-protect.html
Jul 14, 2020 ‘Say Their Names’ Exhibit On Display At Lake Highlands High School
A public exhibit displayed along a fence at Lake Highlands High School is getting local attention, some of it good, but some of it rejection.
https://youtu.be/VpaCEGKvKa0