Monitoring Olympics Policing During the 2012 'Security Games'

8/13/2019 Monitoring Olympics Policing During the 2012 'Security Games'

1/29


2/29

Contents

Monitoring Olympics policing during the 2012'Security Games' an overview

2

Community Legal Oservers during theOlympics

6

!hat our monitoring revealed 10"he use o# stop and search powers"he treatment o# homeless people$rrests

Organising community legal oservation what we learnt

14

$ppendi% 1& "he Olympics a dayydayrea(down

17

$ppendi% 2& "he )aralympics a dayydayrea(down

26

$c(nowledgements 28

1

OLYMPIC POLICING DURING THE 2012 'SECURITY GAMES' | Newham Monitoring Project


3/29

Monitoring Olympics policing

during the2012 'Security Games'In the months before the start of the 2012 Olympics inStratford in east London, there was a rowin an!ietyamonst Londoners abo"t the prospect of snipers inhelicopters and #$% fihters in the s&ies, missilela"nchers on tower bloc&s and repeated predictions that'ewham wo"ld e!perience loc&down d"rin pea&periods( 'ewham )onitorin *ro+ect had also beenreceiin en-"iries from across east London for monthsfrom local residents, partic"larly those wor&in withyo"n people, who were concerned abo"t the massieproposed policin operation and its impact at street leel(London 2012 seemed to desere its rep"tation as thefirst .Sec"rity /ames.(

he Olympics presented the larest peacetime militaryand sec"rity operation since 14, with a policin andsec"rity b"det of aro"nd 3m( %rom 2010, the n"mber of sec"rity personnel re-"ired byOlympic oranisers rose sharply to an estimated 2,700 on the b"siest days, more than do"blethe oriinal predictions, with "p to 12,000 police from forces across the co"ntry and the )inistryof 5efence proidin more troops deployed in "niform to wor& d"rin the /ames than were thenstationed in $fhanistan( en more 99: was installed in a city that already had the hihestleel of s"reillance of its citi;ens than anywhere in the world, whilst aro"nd 380 million was

spent on the constr"ction of an 11 https>EEwww(o("&EoernmentEp"blicationsElondonEEwww(bbc(co("&EnewsE"&


4/29

homeless, "nemployed or "lnerable to e!cessie policin or criminalisation, with a leacy ofproperty deelopers and real estate owners benefitin most( hese were real life stories behindthe promises of employment and reeneration that had been made in each host city(

@e reconised that an atmosphere of intensie sec"rity, foc"sed on the boro"h where 'ewham)onitorin *ro+ect has wor&ed for oer thirty years, had the potential to neatiely impact on localpeople( )ost military and all priate sec"rity personnel wo"ld wor& inside the .tic&eted areas. ofthe eent en"es, b"t in the streets s"rro"ndin the Olympic *ar& in Stratford and the !9el9entre in 9annin own, it was the prospect of a massie policin operation that was o"rreatest concern( 'ewham is one of London.s poorest and most ethnically dierse boro"hs withthe second hihest )"slim pop"lation in the CD, one that had e!perienced lon .*olice criticised for terror raid.http>EEnews(bbc(co("&E1EhiE"&E661(stm6 See .Dey Statistics 201., $ston


5/29

case, the 9*S reersed its decision and, in )ay 2012, a wae of other cases came forwardtotallin 1 alleations of racism by police officers, spar&in a series of reiews and a n"mber ofs"spensions(11his case, whilst shoc&in, was also sadly reminiscent of reports we haereceied for years from yo"n people, partic"larly from blac& and minority bac&ro"nds, abo"ttheir treatment at the hands of the police( he only difference was that )a"ro 5emetrio hadmanaed to capt"re his e!perience on his mobile phone(O"r concerns abo"t the Olympics policin operation was that 'ewham teenaers many of whomlie in temporary or oercrowded homes en+oyin the lon s"mmer brea& from school wo"ldineitably be o"t on the streets and were li&ely to become tarets for stops and searches( Inaddition, altho"h the ma+ority wo"ld not hae tic&ets for Olympic eents, many wo"ld raitateo"t of c"riosity towards Stratford, which had already become a manet for yo"n people with theopenin of the @estfield Stratford 9ity shoppin mall(

he )etropolitan police clearly shared this iew> in )ay 2012, it confirmed a three monthdispersal ;one that wo"ld .specifically coer Stratford own 9entre, incl"din the )aistrates.9o"rt, the main transport h"bs in Stratford and the areas alon @est =am Lane commonly

&nown as the @est "adrant.(

12

his was e!tended for a f"rther three months in $""st 2012 andenabled police officers or *olice 9omm"nity S"pport Officers to order a ro"p of two or morepeople to leae the area and, if they don.t lie within it, to ban them from ret"rnin for "p to 24ho"rs(

#esearch by the Foseph #owntree %o"ndation F#1has shown that dispersal orders ris&displacin crime to the immediately s"rro"ndin neihbo"rhoods and tend to hae the impact ofstimatisin all yo"n people as potential perpetrators of anti

Dispersal orders potentially criminalise youthful behaviour on the basis of theanieties that young people congregating in groups may generate among otherpeople. !s such, the power is potentially less concerned with the agency ofindividuals than the assumptions that are made about what they might do.

"or many, meeting friends and peers in local public spaces constitutes afundamental aspect of developing their sense of identity and control, as well asproviding space in which to forge their independent capacity to manage risk anddanger.

In the months before the Olympics, the police sent what F# describes as a .symbolic messae.to the area.s residents to stay away from p"blic spaces, seeminly drien by an "nderlyin fear Hintensified by the preio"s s"mmer.s riots H abo"t yo"n people from 'ewham scarin isitors

and "psettin the drie for the .perfect /ames.( he h"e p"blicity and e!citement that the/ames had enerated meant, howeer, that this messae was "nli&ely to be heeded(

In plannin o"r response to the Olympics policin operation, we felt that the rihts of local peopleto basic ciil liberties, li&e freedom of moement and association, "nrestricted by harassment orintimidation, sho"ld be ioro"sly defended( arly on, we decided to monitor and recordconcerns abo"t the local impact of the Olympics policin and sec"rity meas"res, with three &eyob+ecties>

11 .@atchdo receies 1 alleations of )et police racism in two months., the Guardian1 )ay 2012

http>EEwww(the"ardian(comE"&E2012EmayE1Ewatchdo


6/29

Strenthenin the response of 'ewham comm"nities and yo"n people

)onitorin and challenin "nfair or discriminatory practices

9o


7/29

Community Legal Oserversduring the Olympics

Community Legal Observer volunteers at the photo-call in tratford on !" #uly !$%!

In )ay 2012, ')* p"t o"t a call for ol"nteers to monitor the Olympics policin operation astrained 9omm"nity Leal Obserers( his went o"t to o"r e!istin s"pporters, on o"r website, iasocial media and thro"h the established networ&s we are part of, partic"larly the oranisationsthat ma&e "p the 'etwor& for *olice )onitorin 'et*ol( It was also pic&ed "p by campainersfrom the 9o"nter Olympics 'etwor&( he res"lt was phenomenal> oer 100 people ol"nteeredfor trainin, which too& place at the =arold #oad 9omm"nity 9entre on th and 1th F"ne(

he trainin sessions set o"t the role of a 9omm"nity Leal Obserer 9LO, which was to>

)onitor the policin of the comm"nity, especially the "se by police of controersial tacticss"ch as stop and search and dispersal ;ones(

$ct as a deterrent to police misbehaio"r, by wearin hi


8/29

he trainin coered the Olympic AlandscapeB, laws specific to the /ames and an oeriew ofh"man rihts iss"es and the law in relation to stop and search powers, dispersal ;ones, c"rfewpowers, arrest and detention( @e also e!plained how ')* wo"ld coordinate and s"pport the9omm"nity Leal Obserer team(

:ol"nteer shifts bean on %riday 27thF"ly, the eenin of the Openin9eremony, with a photo


9/29

#ur $L#s handed out rights cards to a group of ten %& year'old !sian boys, whoappeared very ecited to use the information provided the net time they arestopped by the police. ! few days later, the boys met the same $L#s again andtold them that they had been stopped and searched several times since the first

encounter with our volunteers and that they told the police officers it is their rightnot to give them their names and addresses. (owever, they had relented andgiven this information as a result of feeling intimidated. #ne officer told them,)these won*t take you anywhere), as he took the rights cards off each of them.

The group was given new rights cards and saved N+P)s mergency (elplinenumber in their mobile phones. #ur $L#s also led a stop and search role playeercise with them, which provided an opportunity to understand and more easilyremember what they should be told by a police officer who stops them, what theirrights are and the importance of getting a receipt at the end of the search. Theboys agreed to participate in a stop and search workshop organised by N+P andoffered to let all their friends know about their rights and about N+P)s helpline

number.

During another shift, our $L#s spoke with a small group of young men who saidthat they are constantly harassed by the police. #ne told the $L#s that during astop'and'account, he suddenly snee-ed. This annoyed the police officers whohad stopped him and, as a result, he was issued with a penalty notice for spitting.!nother young male says he was routinely targeted on suspicion of drug dealing,despite the fact that he has no criminal history related to drugs.

@e receied a hih n"mber of reports of yo"n men bein ro"tinely strip


10/29

On a n"mber of occasions, police officers attempted to press 9LOs to proide their personaldetails, seeral times claimin that they were re-"ired to do so as .police witnesses. incirc"mstances where they had not witnessed any incident( @e s"spected these re-"ests werelittle more than attempts to intimidate o"r ol"nteers(

@e were repeatedly told by yo"n people that police officers confiscated ')*.s rihts cards fromthem when they were stopped(

On )onday 6 $""st, police told 9LOs that they were now e!cl"ded from any ransport forLondon land incl"din the b"s station beca"se of alleedly .aressie behaio"r. whenobserin a stop and search(

"he response o# the local council

Cnfort"nately, 'ewham co"ncil was actiely obstr"ctie( On 0 F"ly, sec"rity wor&in for theco"ncil preented a ro"p of 9omm"nity Leal Obserers from enterin the LieSite p"blicscreenin of Olympic eents at Stratford *ar&, acc"sin the 9LOs of .ma&in it easy for criminals

and iin them tips. by handin o"t rihts


11/29

!hat our monitoring revealed"he use o# stop and search powers

9omm"nity Leal Obserers fo"nd that police were rarely proidin people with receipts whenstop and search powers were "sed H this was recorded by o"r ol"nteers on almost eery dayd"rin the Olympics( *olice appeared to fre-"ently chec& people.s identification as if this was amatter of co"rse rather than related to the specific ro"nds for the search(

9LOs spo&e to lare n"mbers of yo"n people abo"t the iss"e of whether to ie police theirname and address d"rin a search "nder police powers where proidin this information is notre-"ired( )ost yo"n people were "naware of their rihts b"t those who had tried to assert themand ref"sed to ie their personal details said officers threatened to arrest them or obtained theirdetails by other means, by oin thro"h a wallet or e!tendin the ro"nds of the search bys"estin an item in their possession may be stolen forcin them to proide a name andaddress to proe their innocence( )any felt that &nowin their rihts simply wasn.t eno"h(

$ommunity Legal #bservers spoke to one % year old who said that during thesecond week of the #lympics, he was stopped three times in one day outside/tratford /tation. (e told the $L#s0 )the first time 1 was stopped, the policeofficers said they were searching me for weapons. The second time it wasbecause 2of3 the way 1 was dressed. 1 was told 1 looked like 1 was on something.The third time 1 wasn*t given any reason at all.)

In some cases stop and search powers were "sed repeatedly by police officers so that peoplebein to feel harassed and deterred from atherin where they normally socialised(

$L#s spoke to three young !sian men, who said they had moved on when theyrealised they were being watched by the police, but that the officers continued topursue them. They added that this has not been the first time they have beenwatched, stopped and searched for possession of drugs and that the previousevening, one had his phone taken from him by a police officer even though acheck showed it had not been stolen.

The group said that as a result of the #lympics, they had changed their dailyactivities to save them from hassle from the police.

@e had seeral reports of incidents where the "se of stop and search powers led to an alleationof assa"lt aainst police officers( %or e!ample, a ro"p of yo"n $sian boys in traditional Islamicclothin were ret"rnin home d"rin the niht from #amadan prayers at their mos-"e, when thepolice stopped and searched 6 or 7 of the yo"n boys in %orest /ate( One member of the ro"preported that he had been assa"lted d"rin this stop and search by one of the officers(

al&in to members of the p"blic reealed that the police were still "sin powers "nder section60 of the 9riminal F"stice and *"blic Order $ct 14 "sed .in anticipation of iolence.(17Oneindiid"al said that he had been threatened with dispersal ;one powers near Stratford *ar& b"tthat officers had bac&ed down when he stood his ro"nd( here were reports of harassmentnear local shops and within Stratford *ar&, with the s"estion that police behaed differentlyin to"rists areas in order not to create a neatie impression(

17 Seehttp>EEwww(leislation(o("&E"&paE14EEsectionE60

10

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/section/60http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/section/60http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/section/60http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/33/section/60


12/29

=oweer, we also fo"nd that Olympic to"rists who were stopped were proided with ery littleinformation H those we saw or spo&e to afterwards said they were not told what power theywere bein stopped "nder> officers simply said, .we need to search yo".(

+r !, a &4 year old tourist, was stopped and searched by two plain clothes police

officers on the opening day of the #lympics on the suspicion of buying or sellingtickets. !t no time was information provided on his rights or the reason for thestop and search and officers also failed to give him a receipt.

1t was only after speaking to one of our $L#s that +r ! went back to the officersthat stopped him and obtained a receipt 5 and discovered why he had beenstopped in the first place.

!n !merican tourist was stopped and searched outside /tratford Picturehouse inTheatre /6uare, on the grounds that he was taking pictures of the parking areanet to the bridge and police officers felt he was therefore acting suspiciously.

The officers did not introduce themselves, they did not tell him the power theysearched him under and did not issue him a receipt. They did, however, ask himfor his name, date of birth and previous criminal record, none of which he wasre6uired to provide in law. $L#s gave the man information about his rights andadvised him to get in touch with N+P again if he wished to pursue a complaint.

Cltimately, &nowin yo"r rihts is no "arantee aainst a fr"stratin and intimidatin enco"nterwith the police( he followin incident, inolin a yo"n $sian man who asserted his rihtswhen he was stopped and searched in Stratford, encompasses many of the iss"es we heardabo"t repeatedly d"rin the Olympics>

While waiting for my partner at /tratford station, 1 was approached by threeofficers yelling )take your hands out of your pockets). !s they gathered aroundme, 1 asked what they wanted and was told they had planned to 7ust ask me some6uestions but because 1 was being 8aggressive* and 8anti'police* they were nowgoing to carry out a stop and search.

#ne officer began the search without any eplanation, so 1 asked why they werefailing to follow 89#W1/L:* ;an acronym used in police training as a reminder ofinformation officers must provide when they perform a stop and search%) They then said 1 was free to leave but 1 reminded them that they hadforgotten to offer me a record of the search and 1 wanted one. The officers keptinsisting to my partner )he is free to go, he is a free man) but she politely said, )1think he wants his receipt, even if we*re late). #ne of the officers then filled in asearch record and handed it to me, which said 1 had been seen pulling up mysocks and had appeared agitated around a sniffer dog 5 which hadn)t even arrived

until after the search had begun. 1 immediately challenged the search record and

18 Seehttp>EEscont"tor(wordpress(comE2012E11E16Esnea&


13/29

said it was false. #ne officer again told my partner that 1 was a liar and walkedaway to write up his notes. Luckily 1 had paper and a pen with me and was able tonote the officers) badge numbers. 1 am now pursuing a formal complaint.

he yo"n man is a casewor&er for 'ewham )onitorin *ro+ect, proidin adice and traininon police stop and search powers( It is hardly s"rprisin that, in similar circ"mstances,someone who is far less confident abo"t their rihts wo"ld find those rihts are inored(

"he treatment o# homeless people

5"rin the Olympics, the dispersal ;one in Stratford tareted not only yo"n people, b"t anyonedeemed "ndesirable to the imae of the Olympics, especially the homeless(

@e obsered police stoppin homeless people on most days, "s"ally to try to moe them on(hose we spo&e to said they were approached by police contin"ally and many complained ofaressie treatment by police officers>

#n the third day of the #lympics, three officers from the Territorial /upport 9roup;the +etropolitan Police)s specialist public order unit= attempted to arrest ahomeless astern uropean man for drunkenness in a public place. When $L#sarrived, the man was lying on the ground, disorientated and largely unresponsive.

The police officers were visibly unhappy with the presence of the $L#s, callingthe volunteers 8useless* for being unable to assist homeless people, even afterthey eplained this was 6uite obviously not part of their community legalobserving role. The police officers then promptly left, offering no eplanation whythey had initially attempted to arrest the man, sarcastically adding 8they will look

after you* and pointing at the $L#s. Dismissively leaving a distressed member ofthe public in this way was etremely unprofessional, but fortunately our $L#swere able to provide some help after the police left, providing water and directinghim to a place to sleep.

#n another occasion, the day before the $losing $eremony, our $L#s intervenedto prevent police officers and security staff, who also appeared to be involved inthe 8clean'up* operation around /tratford station, from removing and destroying ahomeless man)s sleeping bag and ground sheet. The security staff respondedcontemptuously to the idea that the homeless might have a right to theirpossessions and had we not stepped in, there seems little doubt that these items

would have been confiscated.

Later, during the Paralympics, a homeless man who spends most of his timearound /tratford was abused and punched in the chest because of hishomelessness. (e reported the incident to the police, describing his attacker as awell'dressed man in a suit, but rather than dealing effectively with the assault, thehomeless man was himself threatened with arrest.

12



14/29

$rrests

he arrests o"r 9LOs witnessed near the Olympic *ar& were carried o"t by lare n"mbers ofofficers H often ro"ps in e!cess of 10( here were arrests for alleed tic&et to"tin on mostdays( One man who spo&e to "s after his release said that the c"stody sereant at the police

station he was ta&en to had ref"sed to let him call o"r merency =elpline n"mber to re-"est alawyer(

Other arrests were more typical of o"r onoin casewor& H and were +"st as arbitrary>

! ?@ year old young black man was waiting to be let into his friend)s house butwas arrested by plain clothed police officers for acting suspiciously. (is friendsinformed officers that they knew him but the police continued to put him intohandcuffs and call for back'up. (is friends managed to film him protesting that hedid not understand why he was being arrested and then being carried to thepolice van.

!t the police station he was told he had been stopped for public disorder andswearing, but he was not charged. (e went on to pursue a complaint against thepolice over his treatment.

1



15/29

Organising community legaloservation what we learntLocal in#ormation is essential

?efore the start of the Olympics, o"r e!pectation was that themassie increase in sec"rity associated with the /ames wo"lde!acerbate e!istin concerns abo"t oppressie local policin,rather than necessarily create entirely new ones( $s a casewor&

Monitoring Olympics Policing During the 2012 'Security Games'

Documents

Transcript of Monitoring Olympics Policing During the 2012 'Security Games'