WORDS are wi The Similarly the term of their inhabitants.
have paid a be a measure massacre demonstrators reforms were Strike low.
Tons. Take the case of rabber bullets, the name of which suggests they are hardly more lethal than arshmallows — although the British Army in the North of Ireland uses them to maim and kill. sounds like a reasonable objective until you've same goes for 'public order', which witnessed the keepers of it in action in a black community, on a picket line, or when they've decided to keep demonstrators in line 'Special Patrol Group' does less than justice to the units set up as Britain's rot control squads, patterned on the third force para-military squads available to defend other Western democracies against the mass The forgers of law and order in this country and this helps to plain the role of attention to allocated to the police and how they are being tooled up for the Britain of the 1980s.
The British ruling class learnt early on that using the army to deal with civil disturbances at — as opposed to the Empire - needed tc of last resort. The Peterloo of 1819, for example, when -20 demanding parliamentary gunned down by troops, still wrankles in working class memories In the 20th century, the army has rarely been seen in action on the streets of Britain. Troops took over during the 1919 police strike, and they have played a scab role in several strikes since, including, of course, the 1926 General Strike. over power stations, wis re wore s, anid the take power stations, water works, and the like and they are prepared for nation-wide deployment in the event of anything approximating to a general strike, their profile is kept deliberately Yet between the automatic Tommy, presently battle hardened in Belfast and Derry to regard almost anyone with an Irish accent as a terrorist, and the Bobby who helps elderly people across the Thatcher's policies they no doubt need all the help they can get), a third force has been subtly mplanted in the constabulary shotgun im trucks with their windows draped in image wire wages ready to crack skulls on a demonstration is somehow foreign. It doesn't happen here, we're led to believe In fact it does, indicate the strategy that is being employed to maintain the illusion of normality.
Shields The shields used by police in what they deem to be riot situations, for example, are pleasantly transparent, so that they don't quite look like what they are. The reinforced helmets worn by the SPG are as effective as the steel variety, but only the double chinstrap and the clip-on visor externally distinguish it from the familiar blue dome. And after the experience of Lewisham, when several SPG Transit vans were burnt out, these carriers now have double glazing, plastic sheets behind the windows to ward off bricks and such like Not that the camouflage will hold out for long; as the Police Review booklet 'Public Order and the Police' puts it: 'Riot shields, strengthened helmets, and goggles are only the beginning; the question of staves and firearms must soon be considered'. It goes on to quote one anonymous officer's solution to riots: spray them - spray them with machine guns. murder of Blair Peach has shown that with of ficial approval or otherwise, these 'elite units' have already equipped themselves with the instruments of murder.
rifle-bearing Harvard found that 5 Broad (and Squads well-helmeted cops riding military squads, but the cosmetic differences the cop-haters similar role, is the French caines de Sécurité.
gerating.
All you have to do is of the SPG following the In the proceed with caution.' The United States, heartland of imperialism, has the distinction of the worst record of police violence in the West. Every year in the 1950s and '60s, more than two hundred citizens were killed by the police. A recent study by James Wilson of per of blacks (representing 1m people) and 2 per cent of whites (4m people) claimed to have been unjustifiably beaten by police at least once.
Many US police forces now have parathe prototype of which is the Los Angeles Special Weapons and Tactics unit (SWAT). The philosophy of these units was expressed by one SWAT instructor: 'Those people out there — the radicals, the revolutionaries, and are damned good at using shotguns, bombs, or setting up ambushes, so we've got to be better at what we do."
West Germany's riot section is known as the Bereitschaftspolizei. You've probably seen them in action on the TV news lately, thumping anti-nuclear demonstrators over the head.
Italy's Guardi di Publicca Sicurezza plays a although the ordinary cops who throw anarchists out of windows (see Dario Fo's Accidental Death of an Anarchist at the Wyndham Theatre, London) do a pretty good job Top of the poll for brutal third-force policing CRS, the Compagnies Republihe students who chanted 'CRS - SS' in May '68 were scarcely exagAt least in France, the policemen's union has repeatedly criticised the government for using police repression as a substitute for political negotiation. In Britain, the only complaint by the Police Federation has been over the level of injuries sustained by cops during training sessions, and the need for more effective protection.
immortal words of Sir David McNee in his first annual report as Coramissioner of the Met: 'Libertarians should Socialist Challengo 5 June 1980