Public Order Policing

Abstract

Public order policing sits at the intersection between crime fighting and order maintenance. The right to protest is enshrined in many jurisdictions, and the police have an important role in ensuring that peaceful protests do not spin out into public criminality (such as vandalism, and assaults against counter-protestors). It is therefore understandable that much criticism about public order policing has been directed at the tactics used against people not engaged in criminal acts. Since the inception of modern policing, the police have been on the frontline in public order strategies, often with unintended consequences. Importantly, most research and practical guidelines on public order policing have little to say about vulnerable people. While many protests and demonstrations are conducted on behalf of vulnerable people and/or vulnerable people are participants in protests, they are largely absent from any discussion of public order policing. The tactics and weaponry used by police during public order events assume the invulnerability of participants, and make few provisions for vulnerable people. The critical importance of accounting for vulnerability in public order policing is no more obvious than in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, where indiscriminate use of weaponry and tactics have deepened the vulnerability of some, and created the conditions for enduring vulnerability for others.