Police relied too heavily on untrained and inexperienced officers as they attempted to control protests during the G20 summit, an inquiry has warned.

The Home Affairs Select Committee said tactics used by the Metropolitan Police during the April summit "shocked the public".

Denis O'Connor, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary, is investigating the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, who was pushed to the ground by a police officer shortly before he died.

Amateur footage of the protests also showed a police sergeant apparently slapping protestor Nicola Fisher.

And police have been criticised over the use of "kettling" tactics, which involve trapping protestors in a small area, sometimes for hours.

The committee, which includes London MP Karen Buck MP (Lab, Regent's Park and Kensington North), warned: "we are deeply concerned that untrained and inexperienced officers were placed in such a highly combustible atmosphere."

The MPs said: "We cannot condone the use of untrained, inexperienced officers on the front line of a public protest and feel that an element of luck must be attributed to the success of the operation."

MPs pointed out that there had been only "a few high-profile incidents" as 35,000 protestors descended on the city.

But they added: "However, these incidents and the tactics that led to them caused considerable adverse comment and have the potential to seriously damage the public's faith in the police.

"The use of containment (detaining people in a confined area for a sustained period of time), and distraction tactics (the controlled use of force against those who appear hostile) while legitimate according to the police rule-book, shocked the public.

"Whether they should continue to be used must form the basis of a wide-ranging discussion on the future policing of public protests."

They also warned called for disciplinary action to be taken against officers who removed identification numbers from their uniforms.

"There no circumstances in which it is acceptable for officers not to wear identification numbers and urgent action must be taken to ensure that officers have the resources to display identification at all times; those officers found to be consciously removing their identification numbers must face the strongest possible disciplinary measures."

Committee chairman Keith Vaz said: "The basic principle that the police must remember is that protesters are not criminals - the police's doctrine must remain focused on allowing protest to happen peacefully."

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Name

Website (optional)

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment