and Police Overreaction Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 03:37:00 GMT Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] X-Loop: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Precedence: bulk Author: Susan Price Source: Green Left Weekly (http://www.greenleft.org.au/globalaction/s11/daily/000905_01_cops.shtml) Keywords: Environmental, Police Brutality, Melbourne, Australia Community legal activists and protest organisers are becoming increasingly concerned that the media obsession with the potential for violence at the S11 protests against the World Economic Forum could become a pretext for police over-reaction. On September 5, 2000, Pauline Spencer, a community lawyer with the Fitzroy Legal Centre and a member of the "arrest watch" roster for the S11 protests, spoke to Green Left Weekly about her concerns. "I can sum it up in three words", said Spencer, "Richmond Secondary College". Her words are not uttered lightly. Spencer was lead plaintiff in the civil action resulting from the infamous police baton charge against a peaceful picket line at the college site on December 13, 1993. The picket line had been established with the support of the Victorian Trades Hall Council to prevent construction of an elite girls' school on the site, which had been closed by the Kennett government a year earlier. "Having looked at the Richmond case in detail", said Spencer, "the talking up of the potential for violence does tend to hype up police officers on the ground". The result, according to Spencer, is that "when little things happen, any action by police becomes an over-reaction". The arrest watch roster, which brings together community lawyers from around Melbourne, has been established in conjunction with the S11 Alliance. According to Spencer, it will be "keeping a watchful eye" on police to ensure that they attempt to negotiate as a first point of resolving situations which arise at the protests. "We want to implore police to learn from their mistakes at Richmond", Spencer emphasised. "Batons are a potentially deadly force if used inappropriately, and their use should be a last resort. Force Command should counsel their members to remain calm and to exhaust all possible avenues." If unreasonable force is used by police, according to Spencer, "we will be taking civil action." The possibility of mass arrests occurring at the demonstration also has Spencer concerned. "The prison system is already overstretched, and police shouldn't pursue arrests for offences relating to the democratic right to protest." The S11 Alliance has repeatedly stated that its protest will be non-violent. A declaration signed by representatives of the S11 Alliance, Friends of the Earth, the National Union of Students and Victorian Trades Hall Council, which appeared in the Herald Sun on August 30, invited those who were concerned about the WEF to "express their dissent in a peaceful and constructive manner". -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
