The police's response to protests needs to strike a better
balance between the rights of protesters and the rights of local
residents, businesses, and those who hold opposing views, a new
report has said.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) said police forces are usually good at
planning for protests. They work effectively with other
organisations, and make good use of equipment and technology,
such as drones.
However, HMICFRS found that when police forces do not accurately
assess the level of disruption caused, or likely to be caused, by
a protest, the balance may tip too readily in favour of
protesters.
After speaking to police forces, protest groups, businesses and
the wider public, the inspectorate said a modest reset of the
scales is needed.
The inspectorate was asked by the Home Office to comment on
proposed changes to legislation. HMICFRS concluded that, with
some qualifications, changes to the law – such as widening the
conditions police can impose on static protests – would improve
the effectiveness of protest policing, as long as they are
applied proportionately and in line with human rights law.
Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Matt Parr
said:
“The right to gather and express our views is fundamental to our
democracy. But this is not an absolute right. The police need to
strike the correct balance between the rights of protesters and
the rights of others, such as local residents and businesses.
“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.
“We concluded that, with some qualifications, changes to the law
would improve police effectiveness, and that the legislation
could be framed in a way that is compatible with human rights.
“There will remain a considerable public interest in ensuring
that a fair balance is struck. We have made recommendations and
identified areas for improvement which are designed to help the
police get the balance right.”
As part of its inspection, HMICFRS found more than two thirds of
people thought it was unacceptable for protests to involve
violence or serious disruption to residents and businesses.
However, the public’s views were more divided when protest caused
only minor inconvenience to people locally, with little support
for police use of force when protesters were not violent.
HMICFRS has recommended that the police service makes several
changes to help get the balance of policing protests right,
including:
- Ensuring that police forces consider the levels of disruption
or disorder above which enforcement action will be considered;
- Improving the way that police assess the impact of protests,
to help them understand fully the impact on local residents,
visitors to the area, businesses, and the critical
infrastructure;
- Improving the quality of police intelligence on protests,
particularly intelligence about those who seek to bring about
political or social change in a way that involves unlawful
behaviour or criminality;
- Supporting forces to use live facial recognition technology
in a way that improves police efficiency and effectiveness, while
addressing public concerns about the use of such technology; and
- Equipping police commanders with up to date, accessible
guidance and a greater understanding of human rights law.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- This report will be made available to the public at 0001
THURSDAY 11 MARCH 2021 on the HMICFRS
website.
- In September 2020, the Home Secretary commissioned HMICFRS to
inspect how effectively police services in England and Wales
manage public protests.
- HMICFRS inspected whether forces use their powers to police
protest effectively, and what steps the Government could take to
ensure that the police have the right powers to respond to
protest, including reviewing changes to the law proposed by the
Home Office.
- HMICFRS carried out an inspection of ten police forces in
England and Wales with recent experience of policing protests,
and consulted with a wide range of other bodies, including
protest groups and the public.
- The government’s proposed changes to legislation are to:
- Widen the range of conditions that the police can impose on
assemblies (static protests), to match existing police powers to
impose conditions on processions;
- Lower the fault element for offences relating to the
breaching of conditions placed on a protest of either kind;
- Replace the existing common law offence of public nuisance
with a new statutory offence as recommended by the Law Commission
in 2015;
- Widen the range of circumstances in which the police can
impose conditions on protests (again, of either kind).
