tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41579120969823300132024-02-22T12:45:57.009-08:00Fit watchFIT Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06154350751276729204noreply@blogger.comBlogger214125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-82826242098140161822010-05-06T01:33:00.000-07:002010-05-06T03:23:03.219-07:00Police all out to gather intelligence on EDL and Counter Demo.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S-KWOgYzQDI/AAAAAAAAAWo/1ydDlN6IkAs/s1600/FIT+aylesbury.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468098073537495090" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S-KWOgYzQDI/AAAAAAAAAWo/1ydDlN6IkAs/s200/FIT+aylesbury.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S-KV5fdVOdI/AAAAAAAAAWg/txaO8k_fuKs/s1600/skivens+edl+aylesbury.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468097712510810578" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S-KV5fdVOdI/AAAAAAAAAWg/txaO8k_fuKs/s200/skivens+edl+aylesbury.jpg" /></a><br /><div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Their key objective for the day was 'to gather intelligence', said the Thames Valley FIT officer who was busy photographing a small crowd of people who had gathered to oppose the EDL in Market Square, Aylesbury. Earlier evidence gathering teams had been hovering, photographing and filming the stop and search operation that was focused on Vale Park, the location of the main anti-edl demo. This is an established and efficient way of getting the names, addresses and photos of the young, radical looking people who turn up.<br /></div><div>The EDL fared much the same. As they got off the buses one by one, the FIT got perfect head and shoulders shots of each of them. There were no shortage of police cameras. Thames Valley had drafted in FIT from various other forces, including Greater Manchester, Northamptonshire and the West Midlands. </div><div></div><br /><div>As always on these occasions, the intelligence gathering was co-ordinated by the National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU), this time by Ian Skivens (above right), a Met cop on secondment to the NPOIU. The NPOIU is a private company run by ACPO, which collects, collates and analyses intelligence on 'domestic extremism'. Skivens spent his time at Aylesbury in the company of a Thames Valley FIT cop, 3465 (above left) who was sporting a digital stills camera with a very long lens. </div><div><div></div></div><div>Photos from Aylesbury, whether they are of EDL or from the counter demo, will find their way to Scotland Yard for NPOIU analysis. The images and data will be 'weeded' for intelligence value and put on a database, or more probably, a number of different databases. This intelligence is then available for any police force, agency, or other 'appropriate' body to use. </div><div></div><br /><div>Some people will say, the EDL, rascist thugs, they deserve it. But the powers the police use against one side - the EDL - will also be used against the 'other side', anti-fascists, Muslim communities and local people. You don't need to have done anything unlawful to end up on a police file. And in the anti-terrorism hysteria of our times, it is probably the Muslim communities who have most to fear from inclusion on an extremism database. </div><div></div><br /><div>On the streets of Aylesbury the biggest enemies to freedom and tolerance were probably the ones with the yellow and blue coats. </div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-9673140195298138352010-04-01T04:11:00.000-07:002010-04-01T04:36:48.563-07:00Comment on Smellie Acquittal<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUYccZAt2dy2f1ti1iAt8-PLPDRxigvJuQL7X1XWqVPfDrqzUOmeyskZLbzRq7ahhTfhOEPtqZXjG-nsrvFUZt7b8ZLTjmjVoiRZeBbVlc9T_JZKJSVdXvBjaGX7VxgVOOgaqdgh_zeY/s1600/AB42+SHOWING+NO.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 160px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQUYccZAt2dy2f1ti1iAt8-PLPDRxigvJuQL7X1XWqVPfDrqzUOmeyskZLbzRq7ahhTfhOEPtqZXjG-nsrvFUZt7b8ZLTjmjVoiRZeBbVlc9T_JZKJSVdXvBjaGX7VxgVOOgaqdgh_zeY/s200/AB42+SHOWING+NO.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455125580037593650" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(80, 0, 80); font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><i>[This is a personal piece reflecting the views of one fitwatcher]</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Sergeant Smellie’s </span><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/mar/31/g20-police-sergeant-cleared-baton-charge"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">acquittal yesterday </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court, whilst disappointing, is hardly surprising.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Many Fitwatchers know Smellie from his days as AB42 when he was often deployed in a FIT capacity and was frequently nasty, smug and aggressive, and whilst his attack upon Nicky Fisher wasn’t pleasant or justifiable, it was far from the worst of the G20 assaults.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">However, the reality is the court was never going to believe Nicky Fisher over Smellie when she didn’t bother turning up for court.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Under these circumstances it is surprising the trial even went ahead – if I was facing charges of assaulting a police officer and the cop didn’t show up, I would expect the case to be dropped, and I suspect only political expediency ensured the case’s progression.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Smellie’s defence, whilst smattered with bullshit, was credible enough to pass the beyond reasonable doubt test of British justice especially when two prosecution witnesses testified unfavourably reagarding Fisher’s behaviour.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">There may be conspiracy theories as to why the prosecution called witnesses who undermined their case, but I suspect it may be nothing more than an inept, lazy Crown Prosecution Service to blame.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Unfortunately, this case has acted as a smokescreen meaning the important questions were not asked and the right people not challenged.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Smellie was following orders to clear the road and was doing so in the manner he was trained.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Only following orders is not a defence under any circumstances, but attempting to prosecute Smellie without seeking to blame the officers who gave the orders is meaningless.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Equally, prosecuting him for following his training in acting like a violent thug is meaningless without questioning his training and deployment.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Meanwhile there has been no justice for Ian Tomlinson.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">The identity of the police officer who attacked him is still unknown, and the FIT officers involved, Discombe and Palfry are still policing our protests.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Of the 212 complaints forwarded to the IPCC none have had any kind of meaningful resolution.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Perhaps the only good which can come out of this debacle is lack of faith in the system.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">Real change will only occur when we stop relying on public/political bodies to fight our battles for us.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FFFFFF;">It is down to ordinary people everywhere to hold the police to account, and this will only happen when we stop playing the victim and start fighting back.</span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"> </span></p></span>FIT Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06154350751276729204noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-65864882454718437942010-02-24T03:45:00.000-08:002010-02-24T04:07:41.296-08:00English FIT working in Scotland<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S4UWLVfDrZI/AAAAAAAAAVs/nJcoF_mCkDg/s1600-h/manchester+police+1407+a+websize.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441780108748893586" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 143px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S4UWLVfDrZI/AAAAAAAAAVs/nJcoF_mCkDg/s200/manchester+police+1407+a+websize.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><em>We recieved this report about FIT presence at the recent EDL and counter demonstrations in Edinburgh.</em> </div><div></div><br /><div>Just a wee update about the general FIT presence in Scotland.</div><div></div><br /><div>Last Saturday seen the largest FIT presence on the streets of Edinburgh since the G8. Ian Skivins, Mark Scully and Paul Mathers from London, one photographer from Manchester<br />(see pics), and loads from Edinburgh and Glasgow were all spotted.</div><div></div><br /><div>The sight of Glasgow FIT is new as previously Strathclyde Police have steered away from met style policing. During the G8 in scotland the officer in charge of policing the Faslane demo deliberately kept the Met's FIT in the canteen so that they wouldn't " wind people up" (his own words). The Glasgow FIT have a darker shade of blue on their jackets and so are quite recognisable. </div><div></div><br /><div>Many of the Edinburgh FIT are familiar faces to many activists in Edinburgh and were used extensively during Novembers anti-NATO demo's, including following people into several cafes and pubs and hassling the staff into making them leave, and following people around the city, in some cases for hours. Also, interestingly, Ian Casswell visited Mainshill during the eviction in plain black clothing. Shame for him his bearded mug is instantly recognisable and his attempts at sparking up conversation were met with abuse.</div><br /><div></div><div><em>The Manchester cop shown above (1407) appears to be a fairly recent addition to the team of 'national' FIT that keep appearing in demos up and down the country. As well as showing up in Edinburgh, he was spotted in Brighton last month. We'd love to know a little more about him. If anyone has had any previous involvement with him, or if anyone has just seen him hanging around, please contact </em><a href="mailto:defycops@yahoo.co.uk"><em>defycops@yahoo.co.uk</em></a></div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-21419658635045526972010-02-20T04:32:00.000-08:002010-02-21T12:55:19.634-08:00Harsh sentences for Gaza protesters<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S3_ZbM5u-_I/AAAAAAAAAVk/eA66yl3kIYI/s1600-h/071123-el-haddad-gaza.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440305936229923826" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 139px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S3_ZbM5u-_I/AAAAAAAAAVk/eA66yl3kIYI/s200/071123-el-haddad-gaza.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Further harsh sentences were doled out yesterday as more of those arrested at the Gaza demonstrations last year attended Isleworth Crown Court for sentencing. A total of fifty people are to be sentenced for taking part in violent disorder during the protests outside the Israeli Embassy in Kensington last January. Previous sentencing has ranged between twelve months and two and a half years.<br /><br />A further two defendants, both described as being of ‘exemplary character’ were yesterday sentenced to two years imprisonment. Another, for whom this was also a first offence, was sent down for 12 months. Four who had been under 18 at the time of the offence received detention orders ranging from 8 to 12 months. One was given a suspended sentence on grounds of mental illness, and two others were adjourned for pre-sentence reports.<br /><br />The court was told how the defendants were fighting with police, although most of the allegations were of throwing or hitting out with flimsy placard sticks at riot police in full protective gear. A few of the defendants were also accused of ‘assisting’ others with picking up and throwing crowd control barriers that had been used by police to kettle protesters.. But there were no reports of any injuries sustained by anyone as a result of their actions. One man, a university student, got twelve months for throwing a single missile. His family sobbed in the gallery.<br /><br />The court was not told about – nor seemed at all interested in - the context in which this violence happened. The court was not told about the police violence that was meted out on Gaza protesters during the numerous protests that took place in December and January last winter. How protesters were forced into pens, despite the crush that this caused. That protesters slow to move were pushed, shoved and sworn at, and those who objected, or who tried to move back barriers were hit with shields and batons.<br /><br />Neither was the court interested in the political situation that was unfolding at the time. One of the defendants had recently visited part of his family in Gaza, a family including young children who were inevitably suffering under the brutal and unlawful military offensive that Israel had launched. It mattered not at all. He was sentenced to two years.<br /><br />The Judge made it clear that the aim of these sentences was to act as a ‘deterrent to others’. It was not the behaviour of the individual that was important, he said, but the collective behaviour of the crowd.<br /><br />These sentences cannot be seen as anything other than political, given the sustained effort and committment the state has put in to bringing so many people before the courts. The ‘deterrent’ effect intended is surely that of making Muslim communities fearful of taking to the streets again. </div><div></div><div>Other coverage:</div><div></div><div><a href="http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news7101.php">Schnews</a> </div><div></div><div><a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118553&sectionid=351020601">Press TV</a></div><div></div><div><a href="https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/02/446331.html">Indymedia</a></div><div>And further info on the</div><div><a href="http://nomoreisolation.wordpress.com/">No more isolation</a> blog</div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-6658866971844681322010-02-10T05:07:00.000-08:002010-02-10T05:25:11.859-08:00Gaza report condemns policing<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S3Kzftm0dfI/AAAAAAAAAVc/TCwcj_J3Brk/s1600-h/gaza+report+front+cover.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436605057589343730" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 183px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S3Kzftm0dfI/AAAAAAAAAVc/TCwcj_J3Brk/s200/gaza+report+front+cover.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The Islamic Human Rights Commission today released a damning <a href="http://www.ihrc.org.uk/attachments/9213_Gaza%20Demo-FV-LR-v2.pdf">report</a> of the policing of the Gaza demonstrations in December 08 and January 09. </div><div></div><br /><div>The report highlights the unnecessary and brutal use of force by the Metropolitan police as well as the practice of crushing protesters into protest 'pens' and the discriminatory treatment of Muslim protesters. </div><div></div><br /><div>It also heavily criticises the use of Forward Intelligence Teams.</div><br /><div></div><div>From the report:</div><div><br />i) The Role and Function of Forward Intelligence Teams (FITs)</div><div><br />IHRC is concerned about the role and function of FITs and their potential impact on Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life), Article 10 (freedom of expression), Article 11 (freedom of peaceful assembly and association) andArticle 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the ECHR. For the duration of the London Gaza demonstrations, there was an obvious and extensive presence of FITs.105 On occasion, IHRC observers noted that visiblyMuslim activists were closely studied; for example, an IHRC volunteer had to give her details, as she was video recorded for selling merchandise. She claimed thatmembers from other organisations were not harassed for selling their merchandise. Moreover, she claims that FITmembers dealt with her in an aggressive and intimidating fashion.</div><br /><div>Subsequent to the BBC protest in Trafalgar Square (24 January 2009), a group of pro-Palestinian protesters were surrounded, cornered into a side street (near the theatre in Leicester Square) and made to line up against the wall. Each protester was ‘meticulously’ video-recorded and photographed. Pictorial evidence clearly depicts this scene and a witness stated that members of the pro-Palestinian contingent were made to say something in front of the camera.106 IHRC is concerned that FITs may be overreaching powers granted by virtue of section 50 PRA. Furthermore, IHRC expresses disquiet over reports of harassment and<br />house raids of those who had provided theMPS with personal details for the duration of the London Gaza demonstrations.<a href="http://www.ihrc.org.uk/attachments/9213_Gaza%20Demo-FV-LR-v2.pdf"></a></div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-78078495863864995102010-02-05T07:06:00.000-08:002010-02-05T11:20:46.013-08:00Monitoring Network Keeps the Spotlight on Police BrutalityWith the police adopting an increasingly confrontational and often violent approach to maintaining ‘order’ at public protests, the presence of trained legal observers, to collect information that may be helpful in later court proceedings and assist activists who are arrested or need medical attention, has become essential. Their focus is on the safety of demonstrators, without which the ‘right to protest’ is severely undermined if people are intimidated by the fear of police brutality from taking part in one of the vital elements of a democratic society.<br /><br />At the G20 protests in April 2009, senior police officers sanctioned excessive force with an apparent expectation, based on previous experience, that the press and the public wouldn’t that much care about protesters. Taken aback by the spotlight placed upon them by the storm of complaints that followed, particularly the video evidence from members of the public that provided evidence of violent conduct, the police have been forced onto the defensive. So far this has led directly to the review of public order policing, Adapting to Protest, by Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Dennis O’Connor and the extremely low-key policing of last summer’s Climate Camp in Blackheath. Whether the review will really change anything and how long the new approach to policing protests will last, however, is far from certain. Much will depend on maintaining a constant level of scrutiny on police tactics and conduct.<br /><br />With little confidence in public bodies like the Independent Police Complaints Commission and to try and ensure that attention remains focused on the policing of protest, four experienced organisations have set up the Police Monitoring Network to train and collate information from ‘police monitors’ at demonstrations around the country.<br /><br />Members of the network include the legal team from Climate Camp, FITwatch (who monitoring oppressive surveillance by police ‘forward intelligence’ teams), the Legal Defence and Monitoring Group (who provide legal observers at demonstrations and grew out of the Trafalgar Square Defendants Campaign and Poll Tax Prisoners Support Group) and Newham Monitoring Project (an east London community organisation that has supported black communities to challenge police misconduct since 1980). They are joined by solicitors with expertise in civil actions against the police.<br /><br />Police monitors will complement the role provided by legal observers in ensuring the safety of demonstrators but will focus specifically on scrutinising the actions of the police – whether, for example, police officers are covering identification numbers or psyching themselves up for violence and when police commanders are using tactics like kettling" that increase the likelihood of confrontation.<br /><br />Training for police monitors, aimed initially at those who already have experience as legal observers, is planned for March 2010 and a website will be up and running shortly. For further information, contact FITwatch at defycops@yahoo.co.ukReally Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-46241739845732642562010-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:002010-02-03T02:07:01.723-08:00FIT at Stop the War<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2bW1zaEEmI/AAAAAAAAAU0/WeTC5ZCNtz4/s1600-h/FH+70.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433266220290019938" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 143px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2bW1zaEEmI/AAAAAAAAAU0/WeTC5ZCNtz4/s200/FH+70.jpg" border="0" /></a> <div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2bWY96CdaI/AAAAAAAAAUU/-mvpaPM4qTg/s1600-h/CO5090+and+Chief+Insp.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433265724892280226" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 143px" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2bWY96CdaI/AAAAAAAAAUU/-mvpaPM4qTg/s200/CO5090+and+Chief+Insp.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2g7BQibeaI/AAAAAAAAAVE/Q8ZVDK1vjBM/s1600-h/neal+with+camera+small.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433657843227785634" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 134px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2g7BQibeaI/AAAAAAAAAVE/Q8ZVDK1vjBM/s200/neal+with+camera+small.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>An estimated 600 police were on duty last Friday to police the Stop the War protest outside the QEII conference centre where Blair was giving evidence to the Iraq war inquiry. They probably outnumbered the protesters.</div><div></div><div></div><div>The demonstration had been stopped from assembling on the green of the QEII centre as they'd planned, and was instead coralled, without resistance, into Storey's gate and other side roads. There the policing relaxed, and as the day wore on, the ring of police and protesters around the conference centre began to resemble a giant square dance, unlikely to erupt into anything more threatening than an impromptu do-si-do.</div><div></div><br /><div>The FIT, on the other hand, were keen to keep up their usual brand of intimidation and harassment. Photographer Neal Williams (pictured), along with his FIT minder, hovered behind the lines of TSG, every few minutes firing his camera flashgun in the faces of those picked out as 'potential trouble-makers'. </div><div></div><br /><div>And the Hammersmith and Fulham cop (FH70), pictured top left, entered enthusiastically into the spirit of things, ordering three stop and searches, and at least one arrest for breach of the peace. He was a little too keen, perhaps, to impress his friends in the public order unit. </div><div></div><div></div><div>Pictures: Sgt FH70; Public Order police from Scotland Yard's CO11, CO5090 and Chief Inspector; Neal Williams, FIT photographer. </div></div></div></div></div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-59771324690774872672010-02-01T04:30:00.000-08:002010-02-03T08:14:24.960-08:00stop and search<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2mgkDCpfPI/AAAAAAAAAVU/5HPDGq7OQRE/s1600-h/kingsnorth+guardian+pic.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434050966551362802" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 120px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2mgkDCpfPI/AAAAAAAAAVU/5HPDGq7OQRE/s200/kingsnorth+guardian+pic.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div>Climate protestors this weekend won a major High Court victory against the unlawful police stop and search operation used against protesters at their camp in Kingsnorth, Kent in August 2008. </div><div></div><div> </div><div>It had been the largest and most expensive such operation in UK history involving 26 police forces. Led by Kent police, these forces carried out a continuous, systematic and unlawful mass stop and search regime</div><br /><div></div><div>In the High Court the police accepted an Order that the searches of the three claimants had been 'unlawful', and constituted a violation oftheir human rights to privacy (breach of Article 8 of the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights), to freedom of expression (breach ofArticle 10) and freedom of association (breach of Article 11). </div><div></div><br /><div>Climate camp legal team have suggested that the 3,500 other searches carried under the same search laws (s1 PACE) would also have been unlawful.. All those searched under such laws can now sue the police and submit claims for damages. Those affected should log on to the climate camp website <a href="http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/">http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/</a> to see how to proceed with a claim. </div><div></div><br /><div>The legal team claim that this case was won despite police efforts to deny there was any systematic stop and search policy. Their ludicrous position collapsed after a key 'smoking gun' document came to light revealing that the police 'bronze commanders' in charge of the operation atKingsnorth were systematically giving briefings for blanket stop and searches.</div><br /><div></div><div>Three FITwatch defendants who were arrested and imprisoned for four days for photographing the stop and search operation at Kingsnorth are also persuing legal action. </div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-3732621434588509992010-01-28T08:30:00.000-08:002010-01-28T08:40:04.734-08:00Protest as Blair gives Iraq evidenceStop the War happily entered into negotiations with the police about their protest tomorrow, only to be told that the police will not allow them to congregate outside the QEII conference centre as they planned. If the police get their way, protests will be kept well away from the people they have come to protest against.<br /><br />Stop the War appear to be resisting pressure from police, and are still advertising the QEII as a convergence point. <br /><br />It will be interesting to see how things pan out.Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-5978579175745138202010-01-27T02:56:00.000-08:002010-01-27T02:59:13.410-08:00Mass Photography Gathering Trafalgar Square Sat 23 January, "I'm a Photographer Not A Terrorist"<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2AcVIZcgFI/AAAAAAAAAT8/MI76ZlbtWoM/s1600-h/matt+s+jpg.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431372299965857874" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S2AcVIZcgFI/AAAAAAAAAT8/MI76ZlbtWoM/s200/matt+s+jpg.jpg" border="0" /></a> There were about a thousand photographers and also a couple of hapless PCSOs attempting to detain a leafletter (she was leafletting for the No Borders CCTV for later that day), but the thousand-strong photographer pack gently accidentally on purpose closed in to record the incident in such numbers as to make pursuit impossible.<br /><div></div><br /><div>One punter reported actually seeing a cop at the Mass Photography Event, and overheard this cop talking into his radio, asking "What, withdraw completely or just hang around on the edges?"</div><div></div><br /><div>Fancy dress ironic fake cops seemed to outnumber real cops.</div><div> </div><div>Photograph copyright Matt Salusbury</div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-31389324685335371852010-01-23T14:42:00.000-08:002010-01-26T09:02:44.431-08:00Police plan to use military style drones<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S1t7oGuqBSI/AAAAAAAAAT0/JSbFDB0yOos/s1600-h/herti+drone.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430069704656553250" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 122px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S1t7oGuqBSI/AAAAAAAAAT0/JSbFDB0yOos/s200/herti+drone.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>The FITwatch blog has <a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/08/police-surveillance-reaches-new-heights.html">previously reported </a>on the use of chopper drones by police, to carry cameras above the heads of demonstrators. But it seems these are no longer enough for our surveillance obsessed forces - they now want military style unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to keep an eye on us all.<br />The Herti (pictured) is a pilotless aircraft developed by the arms manufacturer BAE systems. According to BAE it is a "highly adaptable, fully autonomous, platform-based solution providing robust, cost-effective surveillance and reconnaissance capability to support a range of military and civil requirements.”<br />In a recent article the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/23/cctv-sky-police-plan-drones">Guardian</a> has claimed that BAE have drawn up with various police forces and agencies a list of potential ‘civil requirements’ including “road and railway monitoring, search and rescue, event security and covert urban surveillance.” They'd like to have the unmanned planes in use in policing operations within the next five years. </div><div></div><div>The Guardian does not give a figure for the price of this crucial piece of kit, although it surely won't come cheap. Tax payers need not worry though - apparently the police can offset running costs by hiring it out to corporate business during 'down time'. Well, that's alright then...</div><div></div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-78575354814040352442010-01-21T02:47:00.000-08:002010-01-21T02:48:09.112-08:00Life is too short to be controlledNo Borders Jan 23rd. St Pancras 2pm; Piccadilly Circus 4.30pm<br /><br />FIT cameras are not the only surveillance that political protesters need worry about. CCTV is routinely used by police for the surveillance of political demonstration, as an alternative or an addition to deploying police photographers on the ground. Images are used to control the movement of demonstrations, to identify and record participants, and to provide evidence for the prosecution of misdemeanours. Information from CCTV systems can be shared with all manner of agencies, both in the UK and abroad. <br /><br />It is therefore good to see groups like No Borders focusing attention on the controlling mechanism of CCTV. <br /><br />There is an estimated half a million CCTV cameras in London, most of them installed and operated by private / corporate security. But there are also huge numbers of CCTV cameras directly linked to police control centres. Figures obtained by the BBC put the number at 7431, compared to 326 in Paris, 82 in Sydney, and 71 in San Francisco. <br /><br />Academic research has cast a great deal of doubt over the effectiveness of CCTV in cutting crime – key research from Cardiff University claimed that CCTV alone had no effect in reducing the level of street crime. But what it does do is provide corporate and state authorities with an unprecedented level of surveillance and social control.<br /><br />No Borders will be holding two demonstrations. “One will be at St. Pancras, where the UK (e-)border agency put up their controls in the middle of London. The second one will be at Piccadilly Circus where, while commuters, tourists and clubbers stare at the never-ending stream of commercials at ground level, they themselves are under constant observation by security and police in their cosy CCTV headquarters below ground.”Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-52244200045269783952010-01-18T06:11:00.000-08:002010-01-18T06:23:39.414-08:00Anonymity: or how I learnt to stop worrying about FIT and masked up well(This article was posted on indymedia, but caught our eye, and we thought it merited a re-print...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S1RtuULN3WI/AAAAAAAAATs/wqLjf0M45zk/s1600-h/all+colours+are+beautiful.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428084093345455458" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 144px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/S1RtuULN3WI/AAAAAAAAATs/wqLjf0M45zk/s200/all+colours+are+beautiful.jpg" border="0" /></a> )<br /><br />A note on caution and paranoia:<br /><br />It will be suggested that the threat of surveillance we outline here is exaggerated and paranoid. So we thought it necessary to clarify our stance. We choose to prepare for the worst case scenario. We accept that, for instance, the chance of the police both bothering to, and being able to obtain CCTV from third parties in the event of most “public order” situations is low. However, we believe to prepare for the fact that they may is cautious. We would be paranoid if our fears stopped us from acting, but careless if we did not let our fear inform us to prepare.<br /><br />This has been a long time coming for us to write. Over the past few years we have seen an huge increase in police surveillance at demos. This has taken many forms: Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) - The FIT was formed in the early 1990's. Its purpose is to film, photograph and watch us whilst in plain sight, wearing blue and yellow fluorescent jackets. Their aim is to intimidate us. The FIT have been highly effectively combated at demos by the tactics developed by FITwatch, please see www.fitwatch.blogspot.com if you haven't already and join their fantastic work.<br /><br />Evidence Gathering Teams (EGT) Similar to FIT, the EGT film demonstrations and in effect have the same job, only they don't belong to the FIT unit. Similarly annoying and obnoxious, and as well targeted by FITwatch.<br /><br />Drones Right, now this sounds really paranoid, and we would say it was, had it not happened recently (at the anti-bnp demonstrations against the red, white and blue festival last year), but the police may use unmanned drones to film demonstrations from the air. These may be nullified on demonstrations in the same way any police surveillance can, through proper clothing and masking up.<br /><br />Helmet Cameras These are cameras attached to the side of cops' heads and look like small cylinders. Some may have sound recording. Fortunately, they are new and expensive, but are becoming slowly more common. In reports on the death of Ian Tomlinson and the G20 protests, senior police officers concluded that this was a more suitable surveillance tactic to FIT teams. This is because, though we may see the cameras, the “general public” will not, thus making the state look less authoritarian. Again, mask up.<br /><br />CCTV Is supposedly everywhere in city centres where demonstrations tend to take place, but it isn't as common as they want you to think. Be wary, and look around before masking up and unmasking, but it shouldn't be hard to get out of the gaze of the cameras. Most commercial CCTV only points down to the doors of the shops it is there to protect. Recently, police have been equipped with portable CCTV robots that climb lamp posts and can be deployed on the routes of demonstrations. We should remind everyone that these are very expensive pieces of equipment. They are also no more effective than any other tactic if we protect our anonymity well.<br /><br />We must be honest, we have not adapted to the increase in surveillance well. Our ideas of anonymity are still caught ten years ago, from the black blocks of Seattle and the summit protests. We need to accept that now we cannot simply get away with wear darkish clothing and half covering our faces. While that may make you hard to pick out of an identity parade by an individual officer, to positively identify you for your file, and is pretty effective against standard old grainy CCTV, it is not a match for modern surveillance. By trawling through hours of high definition footage, police have picked out people before and then long after they lifted a mask over their face, and proved it in court by pointing to distinguishing clothing, piercings, tattoo's or hair. They have pointed to people in the corner of shots, or half in shots, and identified them from their other footage. Police have also used footage to arrest and raid houses months after demonstrations. We do not wish to create fear or paranoia, but it is important not to underestimate the sometimes unbelievably tedious lengths cops will go in the attempt to secure protester convictions. Yet all this can be easily combated simply by masking up well.<br /><br />So, why mask up on demos? The first and most obvious reason why we should wear masks on demos is to protect ourselves from the ever watchful eyes of the surveillance state. The police and intelligence services are using an increasing variety of methods to document and gather evidence at protests. By effectively masking up you avoid being caught on police evidence gathering footage and/or CCTV and can dodge having further information on yourself being put on the police protester database ( <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/06/police-surveillance-protesters-journalists-climate-kingsnorth">http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/06/police-surveillance-protesters-journalists-climate-kingsnorth</a>).<br /><br />It does not matter if what you do is entirely peaceful, the police will still attempt to identify you, create a file and if possible prosecute you. Even the most law-abiding protesters have been the target of police investigation and prosecutions. If you are going to participate in direct action or confrontation with the cops then be especially aware that police will be pouring over video/photo footage of the event afterwards and will seek to pin-point known activists and recognisable faces. It is not advisable to engage in these activities without first masking up properly.<br /><br />Secondly, even if you do not plan on participating in direct action or confrontation masking up allows you to give solidarity to those who do by hiding them within our ranks. It is much harder for the cops to identify and isolate masked up activists if they are part of a larger masked block or one of many similar dressed people.<br /><br />A note of caution: It is often claimed by activists and liberals who are opposed to masking up that if you are proud of what you do you should not be afraid to show your face. Don’t listen to them. Be proud of what you are doing but mask up to avoid the inconvenience of getting nicked. The system does not reward our pride.<br /><br />Effective Masking Masking up to avoid police surveillance properly involves more than simply wrapping a scarf or bandanna around your face. Effective masking up means consideration must be given to how you are dressed as well. Ideally we would all dress the same and mask up in the same way. However, where there is not a consensus on clothing it may be good to dress identically to your affinity group to at least make it a little bit harder. Here we will provide you with some tips but it is by no means the bible on masking up and the best advice is to just use your common sense and ingenuity.<br /><br />Head and face: This is by far the easiest part of your body to be identified by and must be properly covered. People have been identified by the police on the basis of the cops recognising their hair and even their distinctive brow. The best advice is to make sure that no part of your head is showing; a hat pulled low with a scarf and a pair of sunglasses works well to cover most of your face. Remember that you need to stay masked at all times when police are filming. Try not to pull your mask right down if you need to eat or have a cigarette as that is an easy time to get snapped. Alternatively you can wrap a t-shirt round your head to give you the ninja-protester look (see image). When a section 60 A (A) order is being implemented and masking up not possible then wearing your hood up with a baseball cap pulled low and a pair of sunglasses helps to obscure most of your face especially from mounted cameras. It is paramount that you cover your hair!!!<br /><br />Body: Cover all piercings/tattoos/scars that you can be identified by. Wear simple plain clothing all of one colour (it doesn’t have to be black!) and if a demo has called for a colour scheme then stick to it. Do not wear clothes with any visible distinctions that can be noted and used to identify you later. Wear an alternative coloured t-shirt and carry a different coloured jumped in your bag in case you need to quickly look like you’re not that person from just before who was masked up. Ideally, protester looking trousers (such as black combats) are not the best idea, unless suggested that all on the demo wear them, as they make disappearing away into a crowd once de-masked harder.<br /><br />Shoes: Again, another way a lot of people get identified and pulled out of a crowd. Wear plain shoes with no visible markings on them and if you are wearing black, make sure they are black! Boots are good, but may create the same problems with de-masking as black combats. Undercover cops may often be identified by their shoes, let us not fall into the same trap.<br /><br />Masking Up/De-masking: A classic mistake made is to mask up/de-mask at the wrong times. De-masking whilst still in a crowd is a good idea if you have just done something you would not like to be caught for as long as you do not keep wearing other bits of clothes you can be identified by. After an action it is important to not de-mask in an area where there are cops or CCTV you can be identified by. For more info on masking and riot situations read <a href="http://www.wombles.org.uk/article2010015807.php">http://www.wombles.org.uk/article2010015807.php</a>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-55302625953351695582010-01-16T09:02:00.000-08:002010-01-16T09:05:12.059-08:00Remember Gaza Smash EDOBrighton Monday 18th January. 1pm at the Wild Park Café<br /><br />Smash Edo has attracted a remarkable degree of attention from the ACPO ‘domestic extremism’ units for their long running protests against Brighton based arms manufacturer EDO. Jan 18th looks likely to be a lively affair, and no doubt FIT will be there in number. So, of course, will FITwatchers.<br /><br />From the Smash Edo website:<br /><br />For three weeks in January 2009, the bombs rained down on Gaza. At the end of Israel's brutal bombing campaign and ground offensive over 1400 Palestinians had been murdered, including 314 children.<br /><br />Here in Brighton EDO MBM/ITT manufacture some of the weapons components that devastated so many lives. All over the world thousands of people watched appalled at the carnage on the streets of Gaza. Thousands marched and raged at the destruction of peoples' homes and lives. On January 18th 2010, the anniversary of the final day of Operation Cast Lead, we will come together to remember the people of Gaza.<br /><br />We will not allow those who supported their pain and profited from their suffering to go unchallenged. We will not let this genocide be forgotten. On the first anniversary after their deaths, we will rise up. We will take to the streets. We will remember...Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-54367216908524204582010-01-12T14:11:00.000-08:002010-01-12T17:02:27.901-08:00Belated Fitwatch Review of 2009<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Throughout the course of 2009, the police have been forced to justify their public order tactics through media and governmental pressure, but also through militancy. From <a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/fit-teams-shut-down-on-gaza-demo.html">Fitwatchers blocking cameras</a> to Gaza protesters ripping up the confines of their protest pen, people started refusing to accept repressive policing at ground level. Tactics, such as overt filming began to <a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/05/fit-teams-shut-down-in-brighton.html">provoke the disorder they were designed to prevent</a>, forcing the police, at times, to question the tactics utilised on the ground – either by not deploying cameras in the first place or by withdrawing.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Undeniably, the policing of the G20 and the <a href="http://www.lasthours.org.uk/articles/g20-another-version-of-the-truth/">death of Ian Tomlinson </a>had the biggest impact on protest policing in 2009. Hyped out of all proportion by </span></span><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Superintendent</span></span></span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">David</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hartshorn with his infamous<a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/03/it-has-been-fantastic-to-see-mainstream.html"> “summer of rage”</a> proclamations, the G20 was always going to bloody, but Tomlinson’s death and the police attempted cover-up combined with countless other stories of police violence led to<a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/04/fit-at-heart-of-violence.html"> blood on the hands of the police </a>and investigations into <a href="http://www.statewatch.org/news/2009/nov/uk-hmic-adapting-to-protest.pdf">public order policing.</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, up until a pesky banker gave <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/interactive/2009/apr/08/g20-police-assault-ian-tomlinson">The Guardian footage</a> depicting the true circumstances behind Tomlinson’s death, the media were happy to buy into the Met’s “summer of rage” fallacy. Looped footage showed black clad people breaking through police lines. Film of those covered in blood was narrated as protester rather than police violence. The people fighting back were labelled as “troublemakers” and “rent-a-mob” when they should have been hailed for the courage and determination shown in rebelling against a repressive policing operation.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Whilst for those of us used to police violence and lies, the G20 was nothing new, for those who do not have regular contact with the police, the fabrication was truly shocking. For the rest of us, used to reading the fiction masquerading as fact in police notebooks, it confirmed a nasty suspicion.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Following the release of the video, the floodgates opened for stories of G20 police brutality from the clearing of the Climate Camp, to Nicole Fisher’s disservice to any males assaulted by the police by stating her treatment at the hands of former FIT officer <a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/04/former-fit-officer-suspended-over-g20.html">Delory Smellie </a>was worse because of her gender. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-style: normal; "><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></span></em></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Fitwatch research and experience, both pre and post G20, has been at the heart of many media revelations in papers diverse as <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/06/police-surveillance-protesters-journalists-climate-kingsnorth">The Guardian</a> and the <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/08745f86-ba8a-11de-9dd7-00144feab49a.html">Financial Times</a>, and journalists such as <a href="http://www.marcvallee.co.uk/articles-films/">Marc Vallee</a><a href="http://www.marcvallee.co.uk/"> </a>have done amazing work in ensuring these stories have been covered. Many of the stories focussed on the existence and scope of protester databases, and getting this information into the public domain has been a major achievement. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, as good as some of these stories have been, the mainstream media has show reluctance endorsing the true source of these revelations – direct action. It has only been through the arrests of Fitwatchers for blocking cameras that we have been able to force the cops into court to justify their collection and retention of data. Through directly challenging their behaviour we have forced the police to account for themselves – something which would never have happened if we’d left this area to NGOs. Liberty chose a weak case to fight this issue and were happy to lap up the police lies in the civil courts. Liberty eventually won the <a href="http://andrewwood.members.gn.apc.org/judicialreview/andrewwood_judgment_appeal_court_final.pdf">Wood judgement</a>, but only after Fitwatch revelations exposed the scope of data retention.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Personal stories made up another part of the media interest – The Guardian gave front page coverage to the story of<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/21/kingsnorth-protester-arrests-video-complaint"> two fitwatchers violently arrested </a>and imprisoned for taking photographs of cops at the Kingsnorth Climate Camp. This story was picked up by national and local media, including Channel 4, The Daily Mail, and regional BBC.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">2009 started with fear and paranoia with the<a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/02/that-nasty-little-section-76.html"> advent of S76</a> making photographing police officers a terrorist offence. However, this was the year when photographers fought back, and groups such as <a href="http://photographernotaterrorist.org/">I’m A Photographer Not a Terrorist </a>have forced the police to admit the legislation is “unlikely to be used”, and have established a successful campaign not only against S76 but against the use of S44 stop and searches of photographers. This has now become a major issue with news stories regularly appearing covering the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/6724053/Photographers-and-anti-terrorism-The-holiday-snaps-that-could-get-you-arrested.html">arrests and mistreatment of photographers</a>. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Public order policing has <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/sep/16/public-order-policing-civil-protest">undoubtedly changed </a>throughout the course of 2009 in a way none of us would have predicted. Climate Camp at Blackheath saw a virtually non existent police presence – although it must be remembered that CCTV from a cherry picker monitored everything happening. Disarm DSEi protests, synonymous with repressive policing, were<a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/09/wheres-all-coppers-then-first.html"> treated with this same light touch</a>, with protesters allowed to gather and march without being kettled for the first time in ten years.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">However, as welcome as these changes have been, they have not been universal. Animal rights protesters continue to face <a href="http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3191">harassment and intimidation</a>. Young Asian males are subject to harassment on all protests they attend. And, however much we hate the EDL, the systematic documenting of their demonstrations has to be recognised. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We have achieved a lot in 2009, but there is a long way to go. Whilst NETCU and the other extremist units <a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/11/hmic-report-fitwatch-press-release.html">have come under fire,</a> they will continue their shadowy existence and FIT will still operate. Climate Camp and DSEi were policed overwhelmingly by FIT officers – and we need to examine how we tackle FIT when they are not shoving cameras in our faces.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Data gathering hasn’t gone away,<a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/2009/10/fitwatch-exposes-extent-of-police.html"> but it has been exposed,</a> and it is being challenged. Round two of the Fitwatch trials begin in March when the first case for obstruction comes to appeal. We have barely scratched the surface of the scope of data gathering, and hopefully these appeals will bring more clarity to the processes used to document protesters.</span></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Already 2010 has seen the European Court in Strasbourg finding the use of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/12/stop-and-search-ruled-illegal">Section 44 searches at DSEi in 2003</a> was in contravention of Article 8 right to privacy, and the police admitting an unspecified number of people were <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/12/kingsnorth-stop-search-boys-illegal">unlawfully stopped and searched at Kingsnorth.</a> There is a real chance to change public order policing and we must keep up the pressure and continue to hold the police to account wherever we are - in the courts, the media, and on the streets.</span></span></p>FIT Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06154350751276729204noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-63051544326542543572009-12-16T09:02:00.000-08:002009-12-17T05:08:14.059-08:00Mass arrests, cages and deportations - Copenhagen COP15<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/SyotM5e_TYI/AAAAAAAAATk/QUplIPQOMmw/s1600-h/443474.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416191201478921602" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/SyotM5e_TYI/AAAAAAAAATk/QUplIPQOMmw/s200/443474.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Recent protest at the COP15 summit in Copenhagen saw the arrest of hundreds of protesters, up to 900 on Saturday’s march. They were then held in wire cages set up in a warehouse on the edges of the city for up to 12 hours under legislation entitling the police to make ‘preventative arrests’. Most were then released, but those charged with offences, including very minor public order offences, were deported.<br /><br />The arrest of such large numbers of people signalled a clear strategy of clamping down on potentially disorderly protest, a policy of prevention being better than cure. But while many UK protesters are shocked by the treatment, it is an approach to policing they should be used to. The Danish police have clearly learned a lot from the Met.<br /><br />The Politi have simply put their own slant on the British tactics of kettling. On Saturday thousands amassed for a mass march to the COP15 centre, but the police had already decided that sections of the march would never reach their destination. Police vehicles hurtled though the crowd, supported by riot police to break up the demonstration into smaller, more controllable sections. Initially they detained everyone who would sit still on the streets for several hours. They then transferred people to specially set up cages, where people were held for up to 12 hours.<br /><br />The arrest of such large numbers clearly had a marked effect on the demonstration. Set up to target the ‘black blocks’ the arrests encompassed a wide range of people, including journalists, frightened teenagers and, bizarrely, a group of Hare Krishna. The more clued up black blocks, meanwhile, evaded the arrests and set about sporadic rioting in another area of the city.<br /><br />The real danger of police tactics like these, is that they have the potential to deter people from taking part in large scale protests at European summits – whether that be protests against climate change, or against the domination of the G8 or WTO. In the UK, the numbers involved in political protest dropped markedly as kettling became more commonplace - as people were simply worn down by constantly having to face hours in police cordons every time they took to the streets.<br /><br />It is yet to be seen whether the kettling tactics employed at COP15 by the Danish police are used more extensively from now on. Mass preventative arrests are a significant move away from the crowd dispersal techniques – tear gas, baton strikes etc - more normally seen in Europe, (although such dispersal methods were also used in Copenhagen, particularly when disorder was sporadic or unexpected and the police were unable to prepare).<br /><br />There will undoubtedly be legal challenge to the Danish policing, as the arrests were arbitrary and the detention disproportionate. But political activists also need to resist this particular form of police bullying from the ground up. Anyone heading for the next summit may want to bear in mind that mass containment is easy for the police to pull off when people are passively prepared to be contained. Attempting to contain a resistant crowd is whole different ball game.<br /><br />See also<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/15/copenhagen-protests-resisting-compliant-urge">Emily Apple, Comment is Free</a><br /><br />and<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/13/copenhagen-protests-police-tactics">Rights Groups press for Inquiry<br /></a></div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-72631002067392091472009-11-26T04:44:00.000-08:002009-11-26T04:46:24.739-08:00HMIC report - FITwatch press releaseFITwatch welcomes Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary's criticisms of public order policing but warns much more must be done.<br /><br />FITwatch is pleased HM Chief Inspector Denis O’Connor has taken on board many of our concerns in his damning report ‘Adapting to Protest: Strengthening the British model of policing’. The moves by HMIC to ensure that policing is lawful, consistent and accountable are to be welcomed. However, the recommendations may be insufficient to change a culture of policing that has become overly reliant on surveillance and intelligence.<br /><br />FITwatch activist Val Swain said: ‘HMIC’s report is a strong criticism of current policing and rightly so. However HMIC’s recommendations simply to clarify the legal framework for the use of overt photography by FITs and other police units will not be enough to bring about the culture change that is needed. If Mr O’Connor wants a return to ‘traditional’ British policing, there has to be a move away from the current intelligence-led approach." <br /><br />FITwatch also welcomes HMIC’s recommendation to review the status of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) to ensure transparency and accountability. Presently ACPO is wholly unaccountable, setting the legislative agenda and implementing intelligence-lead policing through three ‘domestic extremism’ units (1) run by Anton Setchell. <br /><br />The domestic extremism units hold personal data on thousands of people involved in political protest. There are also fears that this 'intelligence' is disseminated to private companies through the National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit (NETCU) which works closely to support businesses that are the focus of protesters concerns. These secretive, shadowy units operate outside of the structure of the British police and are a law unto themselves. FITwatch hope during the course of the review ACPO come clean about the extent of these units operations and the data that they hold. <br /><br />Val Swain said: ‘While we welcome this first step, we need to go much further than HMIC’s recommendations. What we need is an actual change in the culture of public order policing. The way that the police behave in relation to protest, public order situations, and indeed the public generally, must differ from what has gone before. The relentless photographing and filming of protesters, the tracking of their cars, the abuse of police powers to gather their personal details must stop. FITwatch will carry on campaigning until it does.’<br /><br />Notes<br /> (1) The domestic terrorism units under ACPO control are: NETCU (national extremism tactical co-ordination unit); NPOIU (national public order intelligence unit) and NDET (national domestic extremism team)<br /><br />Fitwatch:<br />Over two years we have highlighted excessive surveillance tactics, including overt photography, used by the Forward Intelligence Teams (FITs) to prevent legitimate political protest.<br /><br />FITwatch has also obtained evidence of an image database of protesters, operated by the Public Order Intelligence Unit (CO11) based at New Scotland Yard. They had initially denied that they ran their own protester database, but taking the stand at a recent trial of FITwatch activists, Superintendent Hartshorn, a senior officer at CO11, admitted that CO11 held a database containing the name and photographic image of people they had noted attending political protests.Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-36852431195177819812009-11-24T02:16:00.000-08:002009-11-24T02:21:51.650-08:00Police arrest innocent people to get their details on the DNA databaseThe Human Genetics Commission has accused police of arresting people purely to get their details on the police DNA database.<br /><br />Speaking on radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Prof Jonathon Montgomery from the Human Genetics Commission said that they had received evidence that police were deliberately making arrests in order to obtain DNA samples. He said that the evidence had originated “from a convincing source – a retired senior police officer.”<br /><br />The former head of ACPO, Chris Fox, also speaking on the programme, admitted he was ‘uncomfortable’ with the retention of DNA, but defended the police’s rights to collect data on the population. <br /><br />“The police have always held data on innocent people”, said Chris Fox. “It is the first chain of the intelligence route…the point about intelligence is that it’s weeded – thrown away when it is found to be no good. The DNA database isn’t.”<br /><br />Those of us with less faith in the ‘weeding’ ability of the National Public Order Intelligence Unit may find this distinction a little weak.Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-15727539783995346022009-11-20T09:55:00.000-08:002009-11-20T10:18:51.828-08:00Support Fitwatch - Get a Copy of Excessive Force - a comix anthology against police<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lasthours.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/excessive-force-cover-small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 291px;" src="http://www.lasthours.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/excessive-force-cover-small.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Police everywhere, justice nowhere</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Profits from Excessive Force will go towards <a href="http://fitwatch.blogspot.com/" target="_blank" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; color: black; text-decoration: underline; font-weight: lighter; ">FITwatch</a> and the Legal Defence and Monitoring Group both of whom work towards ending police repression.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;">Featuring 19 exciting new and up-and-coming graphic artists this is an comics anthology <em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">against</em> the police.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;">Whether drawing on personal experiences or imagined stories about modern policing one theme runs through: a shared view of brutal, oppressive policing. Policing that does more harm than good, and a system which hinders, rather than encourages freedom of expression. Or more simply put: acts like an Excessive Force.<br /></span></span><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><strong style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Featuring work by:</strong> Stephanie McMillan, Ken Dahl, Scott Smith, Edd Baldry, Jimi Gherkin, and many others, they all artfully present their take on the police, with a fine mixture of humour, tragedy, anger and optimism.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;">Get a copy from <a href="http://www.lasthours.org.uk/excessive-force/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.lasthours.org.uk/excessive-force/</span></span></a></span></span></div></div>FIT Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06154350751276729204noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-15615525412506159232009-11-13T08:23:00.000-08:002009-11-13T08:24:11.357-08:00FITwatch accuses ACPO boss, Sir Hugh Orde, of 'playing politics' before publication of HMIC report which is certain to further criticise the police’s<strong> As FITwatchers eagerly await the publication of the final part of the HMIC (1) report ‘Adapting to Protest’, we note the thinly disguised attempt by Sir Hugh Orde, ACPO’s president (2), to pre-empt what is expected to be a highly critical report into police behaviour towards legitimate public protest.<br /><br />In a series of surprisingly frank comments in yesterday’s press, Sir Hugh admits that ACPO-controlled domestic extremism units (3) involved in surveillance of protestors are unnecessary and ‘can go tomorrow’, though he adds that monitoring of protestors should continue under ‘independent regulation’. We’d love to hear Sir Hugh’s definition of ‘independent’.<br /><br />FITwatch has been monitoring the collection of data for use by the ACPO domestic extremism units (3) for two years and is convinced that the police and ACPO are abusing their powers by collecting and collating data unlawfully. We believe such activities fall foul of European and UK laws on the processing of data and breach of privacy. We therefore welcome the disbanding of the domestic extremism units, saving millions of pounds of public money; one unit, The National Public Order Intelligence Unit (NPOIU) alone has an annual budget of £5 million and a staff of 60 to 70 officers (4).<br /><br />FITwatch is convinced that ACPO has become a law unto itself, dictating the law-making agenda to government, while remaining wholly unaccountable. ACPO, the Companies House-registered body, is also involved in a number of questionable commercial activities which generate substantial profits. We welcome Orde’s belated admission, therefore, that ACPO is out of control and must become a statutory body.<br /><br />FITwatch rejects Sir Hugh’s plea to continue monitoring protestors. Fitwatch activist Val Swain said: ‘There is no need to keep tabs on political protesters at all, and it should stop. There is no reason why criminal activity carried out in the course of protest should be treated in any way differently from criminal activity elsewhere. There is no need for separate units, special functions or special surveillance teams that spend hours on end doing nothing more useful than photographing protesters. It is a huge waste of public money and police resources, and it is a disproportionate interference in civil rights. This is a last ditch attempt by ACPO to retain control of these units under 'independent regulation'. ACPO has operated a deliberate shroud of secrecy, keeping the details of their activities hidden even from regulatory bodies such as the Metropolitan police authority. Before the three domestic extremism units are wound up, however, they should come clean about the extent of data they have access to, and the sort of data they keep, and the ways in which their databases operate’. <br /><br />Notes<br /> <br />(1) Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary<br />(2) Association of Chief Police Officers<br />(3) NETCU (national extremism tactical co-ordination unit), NPOIU (national public order intelligence unit) and NDET (national domestic extremism team)<br />(4) parliamentary question on 10 November 2009 about the NPIOU asked by Dai Davies MP to Secretary of State for the Home Department </strong>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-37935646442998355252009-11-11T02:30:00.001-08:002009-11-11T02:31:14.402-08:00Controversial Domestic Extremist Units Make Desperate Raids to Justify ExistenceMEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br /><br />CONTROVERSIAL DOMESTIC EXTREMIST UNITS MAKE DESPERATE RAIDS TO JUSTIFY EXISTENCE<br /><br />Following a damning series of articles in The Guardian, the National Extremism Tactical Coordination Unit (NETCU), and their sister organisation the National Domestic Extremist Team (NDET) are attempting to justify their existence by raiding and arresting four animal rights activists for conspiracy to commit criminal damage.<br /><br />NETCU and NDET are run by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Denis O'Connor, the Chief Inspector of Constabulary, will next month release the findings of his national review of policing of protests and has already signalled he anticipates wide scale change. His inspectors are considering a complete overhaul of the ACPO units, which they have been told lack statutory accountability.<br /><br />Wearing balaclavas, police officers from four different forces carried out the raids yesterday, smashing through doors and spending over ten hours searching two houses. Witnesses to one of the raids described the police as “intimidating” and “threatening”.<br /><br />Lynn Sawyer - a resident of one of the houses - who was not arrested stated “This was a massive fishing expedition to promote NETCU’s facade of effectiveness whilst attempting to stop protest through pure terrorisation.”<br /><br />Apart from computers and mobile phones, the police were also interested in financial documents, evidence of travel and association in support of animal rights extremism. Evidence of such extremism included banners, leaflets and a poster from VIVA, a well respected vegetarian/vegan organisation.<br /><br />Fitwatch activist Emily Apple stated that “This was an entirely disproportionate policing operation undertaken by an increasingly desperate unit. The threatening nature of these raids and using items such as NGO posters and leaflets as evidence of extremism demonstrate NDET’s dubious definition of domestic extremism and their willingness to intimidate protesters and criminalise dissent.”<br /><br /><br />Notes for Editors:<br />1. More information on The Guardian’s investigation - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/oct/25/police-surveillance-protest-domestic-extremism<br />2. A third ACPO unit dealing with domestic extremism, the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, is also being investigated.<br />3. The term “domestic extremism” does not have a legal definition and has been invented by these units. <br />4. VIVA are supported by a wide range of people including Joanna Lumley, Michael Mansfield QC and Sir Paul McCartney.FIT Watchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06154350751276729204noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-66894728619687347672009-10-16T13:00:00.000-07:002009-10-16T13:34:23.893-07:00FITwatch exposes extent of police protester database.Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) have been a familiar sight at demonstrations for years, and many activists have had first hand experience of their particular brand of harassment and intimidation. But although it is well known that they keep data on ‘known’ activists, including photos for their ‘spotter cards’, the full details of how extensive their database is, and how that data is used is only just beginning to surface.<br /><br />FITwatch obtained evidence last December that the Metropolitan police places the personal data of political protesters onto their criminal intelligence database (Crimint), through the production of 'intelligence reports' by Forward Intelligence Teams In a subsequent Guardian investigation senior Met officers admitted the database included the names of regular attendees at political protest, regardless of whether or not they had done anything unlawful. <br /><br />FITwatch has now obtained evidence of a further, image database of protesters, operated by the Public Order Intelligence Unit (CO11) based at New Scotland Yard. They had initially denied that they ran their own protester database, but taking the stand at a recent trial of FITwatch activists, Superintendent Hartshorn, a senior officer at CO11, admitted that they did just that. CO11 held, he said, a database containing the name and photographic image of people they had noted attending political protest. <br /><br />Entries on that database are identified with a ‘unique reference number’ or URN. This makes each entry capable of being searched and cross referenced across all police forces and agencies. In effect, this means that CO11 can create a police file capable of drawing together all police information relating to an individual – police checks on their car, ‘intelligence reports’ written at demonstrations, stop and search records – even if that person has never been arrested, let alone convicted.<br /><br />Superintendent Hartshorn identified how individuals were singled out for inclusion in the database. The police needed, he said, ‘two strands of intelligence’. One strand may be a ‘more than passing contact’ during a protest or demonstration with an individual who is already on that database. The other may be a subjective assessment of a FIT officer on the way someone was ‘behaving’. Previously the police have admitted that membership of an organisation such as ‘Stop the War’ was sufficient to justify an ‘interest’.<br /><br />The Gaza demonstration at which the FITwatch activists were arrested was a classic example of how easy it is to get an entry on the CO11 database. This particular demonstration was quite calm, but there had been disorder at previous demonstrations, primarily as a result of police attempting to force protesters into a police pen.<br /><br />FITwatch activists had been arrested after FIT camera teams who were filming and photographing people on the demonstration were obstructed. One of the Forward Intelligence Teams had spent over a quarter of an hour targeting a small group of Asian lads, repeatedly taking their photographs, and tailing them through the demonstration. In court, FIT officers complained that even after a quarter of an hour they had not obtained photographs sufficient for intelligence purposes, but admitted they had no reason to suspect this group had committed any criminal offence, or that they intended to do so. They were targeted only because they were ‘young and male, and moved through the demonstration as a group’. ‘Young and male’ protesters, they said, had been involved in previous disorder. <br /><br />Seemingly the police feel that fitting such a broad profile justifies intrusive and intimidating surveillance, and the production of a police file. <br /><br />The police appear to be able to collect and collate personal data on people without any restriction or accountability. There is no body that regulates this or provides oversight. They write their own rules. <br /><br />FITwatch has for the last two years set out to disrupt and obstruct police data gathering on political protests, and we make no apologies for doing that. Not only has FITwatch brought FIT to public attention in a way that no other campaign has done, the use of direct action by FITwatch has been an effective obstacle to police gathering of data at political meetings, rallies and demonstrations. <br /><br /><em>FITwatch will continue to resist and challenge FIT operations, but we do need help. If you are interested in getting involved or in supporting us in any way, please get in touch – e-mail us at defycops@yahoo.co.uk. </em>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-82434366640305880852009-10-13T08:43:00.000-07:002009-10-13T08:52:34.758-07:00Police vehicle surveillance – the use of Automatic Number Plate Readers at climate camp protests.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/StSiLa5zUaI/AAAAAAAAATc/nWsmVO0ix9c/s1600-h/anpr.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392112970953347490" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 177px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/StSiLa5zUaI/AAAAAAAAATc/nWsmVO0ix9c/s200/anpr.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p>This weekend is the Climate Camp Swoop, and environmental activists will be heading to Radcliffe power station in Nottingham for the mass action. Many will be travelling by road, but Climate Camp activists driving to Radcliffe on the 17th October should be prepared to take a few precautions if they want to avoid being picked up by vehicle surveillance.<br /><br />Police ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Reader) units have been used before at Climate Camp actions to alert police to the arrival of ‘known’ activists. Police at Kingsnorth used ANPR to monitor and intercept activist cars as they arrived. It is possible that a similar strategy will be used in Nottingham.<br /><br />The police have for some years been collecting the vehicle registration numbers of vehicles used to get to protests, gatherings and even meetings. If your registration number is on this list, it could be picked up by the ANPR system.<br /><br /><strong>How does ANPR work?<br /></strong><br />Motorways have permanent ANPR cameras, but mobile units can also be used on minor roads. Mobile ANPR units can be covert and hard to spot, but they are usually transit sized vans marked with camera symbols.<br /><br />The cameras automatically read the number plates of cars passing by. The on-board computer then checks the numbers against a number of different databases. This is usually car registration, insurance, MOT etc, but the ANPR units can also check if your car is on a list of ‘protest’ vehicles.<br /><br />If the ANPR flags up a ‘hit’ the police can be instructed either to simply note the fact you have arrived (perhaps flagging you up for more targeted surveillance), or to intercept the car. If you are stopped the police have powers to search the car similar to those they would use on a pedestrian (see below).<br /><br /><strong>How do I avoid getting picked up by ANPR?</strong><br /><br />This is a fairly new police tactic, so advice in avoiding ANPR is based on informed guesswork only. There are no guarantees!<br /><br />If possible, drive a car that has never been used to get to a protest or gathering before. In theory at least, if you have not used your car in ‘protest related activity’ before, it should not be picked up.<br /><br />Borrow a vehicle from friends and family rather than hire one. Hire cars were routinely picked up by ANPR readers in Kingsnorth, so are not the ideal choice!<br />Don’t take a car without insurance and MOT – ANPRs are routinely used to pick up cars that are not street legal.<br /><br />Take a longer, quieter route in. At Kingsnorth ANPR was put on the major access routes. The police have limited ANPR resources and can’t put all roads under surveillance, although they will try to cover those routes that are hardest to avoid.<br /><br />Get dirty. ANPR readers need a standard, UK, clean number plate to get a read. Non-standard number plates, foreign plates and plates that are very dirty cause problems for the ANPR. You might want to drive down a very wet muddy road before you get there.<br /><br /><strong>What should I do if notice an ANPR unit by the side of the road?<br /></strong><br />Note down all the details – location, direction, time etc – and let others know who may be travelling that way. And please tell us – the more info we have, the better we can keep track of what they are up to.<br /><br /><strong>What powers do they have to stop and search a vehicle?<br /></strong><br />The police have the power to stop any vehicle, and ask the driver for their driving licence. Contrary to what some coppers say, you do not have to carry your driving licence with you, although you can be asked to produce it at a police station of your choice within seven days.<br /><br />The driver of the vehicle is obliged to give their name, address and date of birth (s164 s165 Road Traffic Act 1988). The police have NO powers to demand the names and addresses of passengers. If they ask anyone other than the driver for their details they should be politely told where to go.<br /><br />Police can carry out the stop and search of a vehicle under the same provisions applying to people on foot. A section 60 order, if in place, also applies to vehicles. Otherwise the police can search under PACE, but need the normal reasonable suspicion that they may find weapons, articles that could be used to cause criminal damage etc. They do not need the owners consent.<br /><br /><br />IF YOU ARE NOTICE ANPR CAMERAS EN ROUTE, OR IF YOUR VEHICLE IS STOPPED BY POLICE ON THE WAY TO THE CLIMATE CAMP ACTION, PLEASE LET US KNOW AT FITWATCH.<br /><br />Defycops@yahoo.co.uk.</p>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-63971079437341195412009-09-21T05:10:00.001-07:002009-09-21T05:13:16.251-07:00'terrorist' photographyThis is slightly old news now - had meant to put this on the blog a while back, but you know how it is. Anyway, this is on the NUJ site, and it's stuff I think FITwatchers will want to know about.<br /><br />The Met has been pressured into changing its guidelines on restricting photography (see previous FITwatch post), after they turned out to be, er, bullshit.<br /><br />"The original guidelines issued in July had been attacked by the NUJ as "hugely misleading" for stating that under Section 43 of the Terrorism Act 2000 police and community support officers had the right to demand to see photographs held in mobile phones and digital cameras.<br /><br />"To suggest that police have the power to see anyone's photos is not just hugely misleading, it's factually wrong", said NUJ Legal Officer Roy Mincoff.<br /><br />The revised guidelines clarify that officers can only inspect such photographs under section 43 if the photographer is actually suspected of being a terrorist, and that a court order may be needed to view journalistic materials, such as digital photographs or notebooks. See <a href="http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm</a> "<br /><br />Also:"The Home Office have since issued a written circular detailing police powers under sections 43 and 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, following correspondence with NUJ General Secretary Jeremy Dear.<br /><br />The new circular clarifies that neither section permits police officers to prohibit photography by either the press or members of the public: <a href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/publications/home-office-circulars/circulars-2009/012-2009/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.photo-terror.notlong.com</a>"<a href="http://www.londonfreelance.org/fl/0909phot.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.londonfreelance.org/fl/0909phot.html</a>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157912096982330013.post-56370562678185208982009-09-10T02:59:00.000-07:002009-09-10T03:06:25.065-07:00Where's all the coppers then? A first impression of DSEi policing.<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/SqjPlIfRBII/AAAAAAAAATU/34mh-ltUYds/s1600-h/two+banners.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379777991734789250" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 160px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cKgHIR4I9E8/SqjPlIfRBII/AAAAAAAAATU/34mh-ltUYds/s200/two+banners.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Well, it wasn’t like demos of old, that is for sure. As around 200 protesters gathered for a protest in the City against the DSEi arms fair, many clad in hoodies and face masks, the lack of police was quite remarkable. There was no more than, say, 20 police in uniform, all FIT, with no police at all deployed to escort or steward the crowd. I have never seen a demonstration so lightly policed.<br /><br />And there were no cameras. Chief Inspector Matt Twist stated that cameras would not be deployed ‘unless they were needed’. He was ‘quite relaxed and happy about the whole thing’, he said. In the event they were never deployed. Despite damage to windows and the invasion of offices, Twist retained his relaxed approach, and police made no attempt to intervene whatsoever. “Sorry, after the G20, we’re not allowed to do anything”, was the blatant mistruth he fed to office workers. But the protesters weren’t complaining, and the many journalists that had turned up for a ‘police mistreat demonstrators’ story went away empty handed, which appeared to be the key objective of the Met's strategy.<br /><br />The absence of FIT cameras was undoubtedly down to the fact that deploying camera teams was likely to make them a focus for hostility, and any confrontation with the crowd was something they desperately wanted to avoid. It is true that the protest was taking place in one of the most heavily CCTV’d places in the world, something that made the lack of FIT cameras more bearable for the police. But even in the City, they had always used FIT cameras in the past. CCTV has limitations that hand held, portable, position-able cameras do not. If this isn’t a victory for street-based direct action, I don’t know what is.<br /><br />Of course, FIT were still present and active. They relied instead on other forms of data gathering, making constant audio recordings and written notes. Twist bragged that he, personally, knew the identity of everyone on the march. And they will have spent long hours trawling around the companies later for their CCTV.<br /><br />But the crucial fact in all of this was that – for the first time in many years - the police were forced to allow a protest such as this to take place. They were not able to shut it down beforehand, or to prevent people gathering. They could not harass and hassle individuals, they could not intimidate and frighten. They had to stand off and let it happen.<br /><br />Long may it continue. </div>Really Fithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04477289056286719528noreply@blogger.com23