-Caveat Lector-
In the line of fire
<http://www.consider.net/forum_new.php3?newTemplate=OpenObject&newTop=200107230010&newDisplayURN=200107230010>
by Alexander Barley
Monday 23rd July 2001
As the G8 summit met in Genoa, Italian police were poised to counter
protesters. Here is the NS survivor's guide to police in Europe. By
Alexander Barley
Before the recent wave of anti-globalisation demonstrations, riot police
got to hit people mainly at football matches, race riots, and raves. As
Tony Banks declared in a 1995 Commons speech about the mistreatment of
English football fans: "If people wave [their British passport] at a
Spanish policeman, a French policeman or a Belgian policeman, the police
will crack their heads open." But now they have a new target.
Ever since Seattle, steadily increasing numbers of riot police have been
deployed at the conferences held by international trade and finance
organisations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the
G8 and the World Social Forum. In Genoa, between 100,000 and 150,000 people
gathered in the streets outside the G8 summit to protest against American
policies; 20,000 heavily armed Italian police and army troops were waiting
to pounce on any misguided demonstrator who so much as pinged a wire on the
wall around the conference centre.
Over the past 30 years, there has been a creeping militarisation of riot
police, who are now deployed where ordinary officers would once have been
deemed sufficient. The weapons used by paramilitary police forces to deal
with a peacetime conflict are a legacy of the policing in Northern Ireland.
Members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were allowed to operate with a
level of force far greater than would have been tolerated on the mainland,
to match the degree of force being used against them. They pioneered the
use in Europe of riot control weapons such as plastic and rubber bullets.
All the major European nations have riot squads, either independent of or
formed from within the ranks of normal forces, which can take action
quickly to put down any insurgency - with rubber and plastic bullets, water
cannons and CS gas, as judged necessary. The riot policeman is dressed in
full body armour, heavy boots, plexiglass shield and a large helmet that
completely encases his head and neck - much in the manner of a Renaissance
knight. His long baton and steel-capped boots allow him to attack
aggressively and efficiently. Through a device in his visor, he has
constant radio contact with a central control room, and so his movement can
be coordinated.
Although the technology used by riot squads is very modern, their typical
formation mimics ancient warfare, namely the Macedonian phalanx of 330BC -
a slowly advancing line formation that works as long as the police stay
shoulder to shoulder.
Amnesty International has asked the policemen in Genoa to show restraint.
They must remember, while they are defending one international institution,
that they are themselves covered by the rules of another, the United
Nations. Article 3 of the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officers
states: "Law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly
necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty." If
anyone hurls objects and attacks property or people, the police should
promptly arrest them, not kick, shoot, hit or blind them. They must resist
the temptation to crack open any heads, British or otherwise.
What follows is a guide to the best and worst police forces around Europe:
France
Members of the French Compagnie Republicain de Securite (CRS) are not noted
for their delicacy, but since there is a riot on average every ten days in
France, the public is used to them breaking up gang battles, race riots,
strikes and demonstrations. The CRS was formed in 1945, with the aim of
maintaining public order and quelling communist initiatives. There are now
15,750 CRS paramilitary riot police in 63 units, armed with the standard
tear gas, rubber bullets and batons. The biggest recent show of force by
the CRS was at last December's EU summit in Nice, where they fought fierce
battles with protesters trying to get near the EU summit conference centre,
beating them back with stun-grenades and tear gas.
Germany
Although there is the paramilitary GSG9 unit, which, rather like the SAS,
deals with terrorism, there is no special riot squad in Germany. Instead,
state police forces are trained to perform this function when needed. Some
German states have special units trained for more physical jobs, and these
often become notorious for abusing their power, so that police from regular
forces have to go in and restrain them. There are a number of federal
police forces, such as the Bundeskriminalamt, which deals with serious
crimes, and the Bundesgrenzschutz, which is responsible for border control.
The Bundeskriminalamt, a very well-armed and highly trained unit, uses
water cannons and batons to break up large-scale protests.
Spain
The Spanish riot police - who number around 4,000 - are used to dealing
with serious threats from Basque separatists. They include the municipal
police, who wear blue; the Guarda Civil (GAR), who wear green; and the
national police, who wear khaki. Spanish riot police win a special award
for creativity and inventiveness in the treatment of anti-globalisation
protesters. The World Bank summit in June, which was planned to be in
Barcelona, was held online, but 40,000 protesters turned up anyway and held
a counter-conference. Police agents provocateurs, not dressed in full
regalia, but with their earpieces still visible, staged a scuffle with a
punk protester in a bid to incite someone from the crowd to join in. When a
few members of the crowd duly rose to the bait and tried to free the punk,
the police had a reason to charge into the square, firing blank bullets and
using batons at will.
Sweden
The Swedish riot police were caught out at the EU summit in Gothenburg in
June. The police, who number 16,500 and are divided into 21 districts, had
done everything they could to ensure a peaceful protest, negotiating with
the main protest umbrella groups and even providing them with
accommodation. And yet, what followed was carnage. The problem was the
policing - which started off on too small a scale and later became too
violent. There were no more than 2,000 police officers, many drafted in
from smaller towns, trying to marshal 25,000 demonstrators along an agreed
route through the city centre. Trouble then erupted on Gothenburg's central
shopping street, where three people were shot by police armed with live
rounds - rubber bullets not being available - one of whom was seriously
wounded. The police rapidly made 500 arrests. A Briton, Paul Robinson,
remains in a Swedish prison.
Holland
Dutch policing is community-based, with an emphasis on discretion and
improving social harmony, rather than the rigid enforcement of laws. While
there are no permanent riot police, there are specially trained mobile
units, made up of volunteers from the regular police force who can be
deployed if absolutely necessary. There are 40,000 police in 25 regional
forces. Marches and demonstrations are policed by ordinary uniformed
officers with no special equipment. The mobile units remain out of sight,
going into action if all methods of crowd control have failed. Even then,
they try to avoid confrontation: the Dutch police, in situations where
there is a risk of public order breaking down, try to be friendly, patient
and non-aggressive. At last year's climate talks in The Hague, a very small
police presence, often without riot shields or helmets, marshalled a crowd
of 5,000 on a march along an agreed route through the city behind a samba
band. The police horses at the head of the procession bobbed to the beat of
the drums.
If anyone had felt the need to throw anything, the police vans, held in
reserve, would have quickly emerged.
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