The London Daily News

11 April, 2009 12:08 (GMT +00:00)

Policing London

The death of newspaper seller Mr Tomlinson has sparked a debate on the methods used by the Met to police protests in the capital; John Kennedy provides an alternative to the current rationale.

John Kennedy

What a difference a couple of weeks make in policing let alone politics, yes the new commissioner is right to be concerned at the death of Mr Tomlinson and certainly the circumstances surrounding the events of the demonstrations on the 1st of April 2009.
In fact we all should be concerned that this sort of public order policing is used every week up and down the country outside the nations many football grounds, for large crowds worry the police for they have the ability to get nasty and then out of complete control.

I though believe we need to hand public order events over to a specialised national police unit similar to the CRS/Police Nationale in France. This unit would be a dedicate force that deals with demonstrations and deployed when the public become nasty or uncontrollable so protesters or those hell bent on causing trouble would be under no illusion that those with the batons and tear gas would be coming to town.

It was very odd last week to see British Transport Police Officers in full riot gear outside the bank of England, after all the City of London as a dedicated Police force and they certainly should have taken the lead role here in the square mile. In fact by relinquishing control to the Metropolitan Police Service the City of London Police may well have started that merger campaign that many want within the corridors of power.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) exists so why shouldn’t we expand it and allow it to take control of all national policing duties which would include public order and anti-terrorism. This would allow the Metropolitan Police to concentrate on the capital and at the same time solve the problem we recently experienced with the present Mayor effectively giving Sir Ian Blair his marching orders. Yes peace between the Home Office and Mayor of London and certainly a better role for those who sit upon the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) because the very people Londoners elect to the assembly would make up the very authority that governs the Metropolitan Police Service.

This isn’t rocket science and it would certainly put officers under less strain and allow them to Police the capital and concentrate on building community relations at street level, and not walking the beat one day to be thrust into the front line of a situation where full time riot squad officers are required with specialised training. To control crowds in large numbers you need disciplined officers who take direct orders and can hold a line under great pressure, the use of the baton or CS or tear gas should be a last resort ask any officer from the army who’s served in Northern Ireland they spent many years perfecting techniques which dealt with mobs hurling far worse than a bit of verbal abuse.

Policing London is one of the most difficult jobs that exists within this country but with a little reorganisation the pieces to this jigsaw can all fall into place and just maybe with the right command structures in place we can avert the saddest of deaths which happened last week.

I would like to express my condolences to the family of Mr Tomlinson and may he rest in peace and let justice prevail ....

photo credit: London Daily News

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