G20 police tactics 'inadequate'
Updated on 07 July 2009
A report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary criticises police, stating "training in both tactics and the use of force needs to be adjusted to meet the challenges of 21st century protest". James Blake reports.
Ian Tomlinson died close to the Bank of England after being hit by police on the evening of April 1.
He was not a protester but just trying to get out of a police cordon so he could go home.
His death prompted an independent inquiry into the controversial tactics employed by police that day.
This morning a report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary criticised police stating that "training in both tactics and the use of force needs to be adjusted to meet the challenges of 21st century protest".
The HMIC was not allowed to look at the actions of individual officers on April 1 and 2.
Several incidents, including the death of Ian Tomlinson, are being investigated by the IPCC.
Instead the HMIC was tasked with examining the wider picture of policing the protests and the issue of police cordons or "kettling".
It found a number of failures by the police: there were no steps taken to warn the public that police might set up a cordon, the approach taken across the cordons was "inconsistent".
Officers were given vague commands and there was a "lack of information and understanding of the rationale for the use of containment which served to increase resentment and anciety amongst protesters".
The report did not focus on the case of Ian Tomlinson directly, but it did say that the use of police batons is not even listed in the MPS Public Order manual.
It said "public order tactics taught at the training centre are inadequate" and that in the future "observers may be employed to identify vunerable people".
Commenting on the report Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, in charge of Central Operations for the Met, said "As a police service, we have clear duties under the law: to facilitate protest, minimise the impact it has on others and maintain peace on our streets. As the report recognises, balancing these competing responsibilities is not easy, but we want to address areas of public concern and move forward."
