The role of the Police at Barnet Town Hall

I emailed one of our local senior police officers to convey my frustrations and concern about the way public order arrangements were made for the recent Barnet Council meeting. His response certainly cleared up a couple of misapprehensions I had about their role and responsibility. I thought I'd share a few comments with you (with his permission).

our role is explicit in that we were present to prevent crime and to prevent a breach of the peace. Not to control how the meeting is run, or who gets to be where or to deal with safety issues. I'm not normally one for drawing lines in the sand but those are strictly a matter for the chair of the meeting and his agents. In this case the LA. (clearly, we would advise, but there is no obligation for advice to be heeded and the decision is always that of the premises. This is the same principle in football stadia/concert venues etc). We could be asked to assist in removing a person from the premises, but it would have to be at the request of the chair and when that person had behaved in a disorderly way etc.

It can lead to some confusion in that people expect the police to lead, but as I say, we confine ourselves to preventing crime and preventing breaches of the peace. Happily there was no crime and a breach of the peace must include violence or damage to property (or likelyhood of) to empower us to intervene. Shouting is not enough to cause a breach of the peace