"policing by public consent"

we have in this country, says home secretary theresa may, a 'tradition of policing by public consent' which, she assures us, is to continue. so far so good.

there is a lot of debate to be had about the extent to which policing that entails the practice of 'kettling', of beating someone over the head with a truncheon to the point where they need brain surgery, or dragging someone from their wheelchair, or charging into a crowd on horses at the risk of trampling people who are going about their democratic right to demonstrate, can be said to be happening by 'public consent' and there is plenty of evidence that these are not just idle allegations of policing in london having gone way off anything that i, for example, would ever be happy to consent to.

but leaving these questions, burning though they really are, aside for the time being, another 'tool' for 'crowd control' has been seriously discussed over the last few days, and with it the spectre of a whole new type of violence. water cannon.

theresa may has now 'ruled out' the use of water cannon 'in policing student protests'. but only after doing the precise opposite as recently as sunday when she told sky news that the use of water cannon was up to the police as 'an operational mater'. meanwhile, head of scotland yard's public order branch, bob broadhurst, says it would be "foolish" not to consider their use.

if you want to know what a water cannon does to you if you get it in the face, have a look at this picture of a 66 year old man who took a direct hit in stuttgart, germany, earlier this year, courtesy of his local police force. (word of warning: it's not for the squeamish...)

Friedrich Wagner, after being hit by a water cannon.
Picture: Marijan Murat / dpa

love & peace

sebastian

sebastian's website sebastian on facebook