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26 Nov, 6 tweets, 2 min read
Britain's Conservative government is planning to introduce major changes to public order legislation to crack down on protests, under a new “Protection of the Police and Public Bill” planned for 2021 netpol.org/2020/11/26/gov… A line of police officers blocking a bridge over the Thames
Firstly, the government wants to amend Section 14 of the Public Order Act that gives police the power to impose conditions of a static assembly - so it is more like powers aimed at processions, which can also prohibit a demonstration from entering a specified public place.
Secondly, the government plans to change the wording of powers to impose conditions on protests so that they are no longer for “serious disruption to the life of the community” but for “SIGNIFICANT disruption”, allowing greater flexibility to use these powers
Thirdly, the government intends to introduce new grounds for using stop and search to “prevent significant disruption”, which could include searches for items that protesters could potentially use for direct action or civil disobedience, such as D-locks or climbing equipment.
This would represent a significant expansion of stop and search powers and encourage front-line police officers to search everyone even vaguely associated with a particular protest, just as Kent Police officers did (unlawfully) at Kingsnorth Climate Camp back in 2008.
New grounds to use stop and search powers to “prevent significant disruption” is also like to have a wider use/misuse beyond the policing of protests, particularly in communities already disproportionately targeted

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More from @netpol

19 Oct
The Metropolitan Police has decided not to routinely release bodycam video footage after internal reviews showed officers displaying "poor communication, a lack of patience, a lack of de-escalation before use of force is introduced" theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/o…
On one level this is almost funny, where it not for the real-world outcomes in so many instances: racial profiling, unjustifiable or simply unlawful arrests, violent restraint, the misuse of Taser and CS, all with little chance that complaints are taken seriously
The police say the "release of BWV is highly likely to exacerbate not prevent ‘trial by social media’ and increase media interest in an incident." What they call "trial by social media" is also called accountability. It led to this officer facing trial bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…
Read 5 tweets
3 Jun
THREAD: A lot of people have been asking us what they can do to support #BlackLivesMatter.

Police systematically target black people with stop & search - so much so that in London black people are 4 times more likely to be stop & searched than white people. #BLMLDN
Many of those killed by the police in the UK were done so after a stop & search.

We've revised our guidance on filming the police during stop & search.

Film the police. Film, film, film the police:

netpol.org/resources/film…
If you are going on a #BlackLivesMattterUK demo, there is a quick "Know Your Rights" briefing here:
Read 8 tweets
11 Apr
This is really odd. Staff at the Addenbrookes NHS Trust have been advised that @CambsCops are stopping staff on their way to work and telling them NHS ID was insufficient evidence of essential travel.
According to an email we have seen, the Trust has been forced to remind their local force that such an explanation together with an NHS ID badge is sufficient evidence.
This was the same force that was required to apologise for this only yesterday
Read 4 tweets
25 Mar
The use of police powers to enforce the #COVIDー19 lockdown in Britain - a thread we will add to (1/n)
Roadblocks in Plymouth to check if people are only "making essential journeys" itv.com/news/westcount…
Durham Constabulary and North Yorkshire Police questioning people about their reasons for not being at home darlingtonandstocktontimes.co.uk/news/18334583.…
Read 27 tweets
27 Jan
Counter-terrorism police list that included Extinction Rebellion was shared across government, not just by the regional police unit in the south-east theguardian.com/environment/20…
Initially, counter-terrorism police said this document an “error of judgment” and “was produced at a local level”. This was a lie.

It was sent to the Home Office, Department for Education, NHS England, MOD, HM Prison Service, Probation Service, Ofsted and 20 local authorities
These include Milton Keynes, Slough, Bracknell Forest, Reading, Wokingham, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Southampton, Portsmouth, the Isle Of Wight, Brighton and Hove, Medway, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Hampshire, East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent.
Read 5 tweets
31 Oct 19
Coming fittingly after our call-out to @XRebellionUK rebels to tell us about the policing of the October Rebellion, this essential new report completely validates everything Netpol has been saying for five years about the oppressive policing of anti-fracking protests
It highlights how police leaders have sought to define what constitutes "acceptable" protests and how protesters have reported experiences of violence, intimidation and aggression from police officers at multiple fracking sites across the country
It also sets out how police's claim that they're ‘stuck in the middle’ between competing demands from protesters and fracking companies is rejected by campaigners who see a failure by police to fulfil their obligation to protect protesters’ rights and facilitate peaceful protest
Read 10 tweets

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