“We have the right to be arrested and processed according to law”: The Power of Effective Police Liaison at the Bentley Blockade

Abstract

ABSTRACT For social movements engaged in protests, effective engagement with police can be particularly important in ensuring political success and overall safety. However, the way in which police are often determined to maintain control of public order in protest situations raises significant questions for protest movements about the limits and value of negotiation. Inherent contradictions remain between the aims of protestors engaged in disruptive campaigns and the police officers sent to contain them. I examine these contradictions here in relation to the Bentley blockade, a successful mass social movement campaign against the unconventional gas extraction industry in northeast New South Wales. Using a participant-observer approach and drawing on a range of primary source material including government briefing papers, media reports and interviews with police and protestors, this article examines the nature and effectiveness of the liaison process in what was a very large-scale and significant public order challenge for police.