According to HM Inspector of Constabulary there is a question as to whether UK police forces are ready to cope with demonstrations organised via social media, such as Twitter.
The report said forces needed to be “more agile” because of the “inherently messy” nature of modern protests. The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) responded by saying…
“There is no doubt that the face and shape of protests continues to change and we continuously learn from sharing our knowledge and experience of facilitating protests across the country.” (ACPO)
Probably so but, I hardly think the ACPO choice of ‘Lead’ on public order policing is likely to do much to alleviate the situation. Temporary Chief Constable Sue Sim of Northumbria Police might secure greater media attention to the issues however, as she is noted for her gaffes, it will probably be for all the wrong reasons.
It is however highly likely that; ACPO could receive a Public Relations Award for their handling of the media at protests I suppose. Assuming Ms Sim remembers to fill out the nomination forms, she has previous for that too and, who could possibly forget her performance during the recent Raoul Moat incident? But all this comes at a price; as the recipient of the highest net bonus payment of any serving ACPO officer last year, no doubt she’ll be expecting a handsome cash incentive for her efforts. Read Watching the detectives: A Northumbria Police farce for more public opinion about Mrs Sim and her skills.
When you consider the volatile nature of the subject, one which has the potential for so much negative press for the police service, how sensible are ACPO in playing the SIM card?
Related Articles
- Police warned over protest plans (bbc.co.uk)
- Change Urged For Police Protest Tactics (news.sky.com)
- Forces warned over protest policing (independent.co.uk)
- Police struggle to adapt to UK’s agile protest movement (guardian.co.uk)
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