Policing a protest: View from the control room

All eyes are on the large screen of rolling CCTV footage in the corner of Avon & Somerset’s silver command room late Friday afternoon.

A grainy video shows a cluster of an estimated 150 people starting to gather on College Green for the third ‘kill the bill’ protest in Bristol in less than a week.

“Are you able to get airborne to get some footage on College Green?” asks the commander, speaking into a radio to get a drone up in the air to better monitor the proceedings.

It’s just after 4pm on Friday and chief inspector Debbie Palmer-Lawrence is the silver commander in charge of the control room at the police HQ in Portishead, making her the person responsible for decision-making as events unfold into the night.

The atmosphere is calm but alert as the team prepares for what could be another long night in the wake of the riot on Sunday that made headlines around the world and a subsequent protest on Tuesday to voice opposition to the government’s proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill.

“Numbers are increasing and there are a number of placards. Some people with backpacks,” says Palmer-Lawrence, speaking clearly into the radio in her hand.

“Atmosphere appears happy. Large portion of crowd is wearing masks but not social distancing.”

The first police briefing for Friday’s protest took place at midday. “The first priority is to engage with people,” superintendent Mark Edgington, the head of operations and force public order silver commander tells Bristol24/7.

He says policing any demonstration is always about balancing the right to protest with public safety and the right people have to go about their daily lives. The ban on gatherings under the current coronavirus rules have brought additional complications as the threat of £10,000 fines has made organisers unwilling to engage at all with police.

“It’s all around preventative action,” says Edgington, summing up the tactics adopted when policing protests, of which there are usually plenty in Bristol.

Avon & Somerset Police have faced criticism for the tactics used to disperse crowds on Tuesday night, when officers in riot gear swooped in to move on a peaceful protest on College Green. But chief constable Andy Marsh has defended the action taken to move people on, saying it is the job of police to “use minimum force to bring it to a conclusion”.

Palmer-Lawrence’s efforts on Friday night are focused on trying to keep one step ahead and ensuring the force is prepared for any possible scenario. Every point in the city where tensions might possibly escalate is being carefully monitored, as is the growing crowd now moving on from College Green into the city centre.

Office staff have left Bridewell Police Station, where clashes took place on Sunday, and a line of officers is standing guard outside.

“Number up to 500 now and they are starting to march,” the chief inspector says into the radio.

It is noted that some protesters are not engaging with officers on the ground and are instead turning their backs. All details of the behaviour of individuals and mood of the crowd are considered at this stage in order for the commander to plan accordingly and ensure enough ‘resources’ are available. Overall, the atmosphere at this stage is judged to be that of a “normal protest in Bristol”.

The ‘resources’ in question are the officers, horses, dogs, neighbourhood teams and liaison officers on the ground.

One banner in the crowd on Friday was in support of Bristol24/7 Editor, Martin Booth, who was detained by police while reporting on Tuesday’s unrest – photo: Tamas Kovacs

There’s more jargon flying around the room than in an episode of Line of Duty and too much to keep track of it all as numbers and letters fly over the radio airwaves.

Protest police operations have gold, silver and bronze command levels. The gold commander develops the over-arching strategy for a major event or protest, the silver is the control room command that makes tactical decisions from the control room throughout while bronze commanders are in charge of things on the ground.

“We could do with some rain now,” says someone in the control room. Protests are generally more likely to disperse when bad weather comes in.

The people out to voice their opposition on Friday night are far from fair weather protesters though and crowds are still strong by 9pm despite the wind and rain.

An hour and a half before, the ‘level one’ command was given for officers on the frontline to don their shields and helmets. The commander says the call was made because of information that came in about the smell of ammonia among the crowd. It’s a substance police say was thrown at officers during Sunday’s disturbances.

It’s a loaded decision because of the risk the switch to riot gear could antagonise the situation, but Palmer-Lawrence says officer safety is paramount.

Not long after, there’s laughter in the control room as footage comes through of protesters handing daffodils out to officers. Everyone is peaceful at this stage and there’s music and dancing among protesters on the streets of Bristol.

“Eggs and glass bottles” comes the call in the control room just after 9.30pm, in reference to reports of items being thrown in the crowd. Teams from other forces are currently on standby but the command is to hold the lines at the moment.

By 10pm, the dispersal order is given. The commander says this is because eggs and glass bottles were thrown and there were attempts to pull shields from officers.

Palmer-Lawrence says it’s also about “balancing the rights of the individual versus rights of community” after six hours of the protest.

Everyone is now keenly focused on the proceedings in the control room. Traffic is stopped at the end of the M32, and dogs and horses are out.

Bristol24/7 Editor Martin Booth – who was briefly detained by riot police while reporting on Tuesday’s protests – is once again covering events on the ground. He reports the police forcibly pushing crowds back through the streets, past Primark and on towards the Bearpit. Footage shows a stand-off between police and protesters near the Bearpit.

Chief superintendent Claire Armes is gold commander for the night. She explains decisions about where to disperse the crowd are made by the bronze commanders on the ground, who weigh up decisions on which routes will cause minimal disturbance, taking into consideration factors such as whether it is a residential area.

At 10.54pm, Palmer-Lawrence gives the order to “pull back towards the Bridewell, regroup, take a breather and if they come back at us we go again”.

There’s a lot of talk in the room about approved riot policing tactics. Criticism is once again being levelled at the force for heavy-handed tactics based on footage shared by some journalists at the scene.

Police bosses say officers are highly trained and have the ability to use “reasonable force” to disperse crowds.

Bristol24/7 was invited to see how things in the control room after our Editor was detained while he was walking home by at least six officers who said that they didn’t believe he was a journalist, an event documented in banner form on Friday night.

This followed a confrontation between two Bristol Cable journalists and an officer who threatened them with the use of force and arrest, despite clearly stating they were journalists and showing their press cards.

Another report emerges as Friday’s events unfold of a journalist being targeted by police.

At 11.32pm, there’s an exclamation in the control room at scenes of people approaching a lone police van. There’s another collective gasp as a firework is thrown towards a police horse on Bond Street.

Mutual aid from other forces is on standby and there are also plans now being made for further planned protests in the force area over the weekend. “My mate just texted and they’re on standby in Leicestershire,” says one member of the team.

The superintendent is giving orders into the radio as events unfold on the cameras. By 1am on Saturday morning, things appear to be winding down and mutual aid teams are being stood down as Bristol makes headlines around the country once more.

Main photo by Ellie Pipe

Read more: Third night of violence on streets of Bristol in less than a week