Monday, March 28, 2011

UK Police : Royal Wedding : Police ponder royal wedding tactics

Police are considering using stop and search powers to prevent troublemakers disrupting the royal wedding, a senior commander has confirmed.
Metropolitan Police Commander Bob Broadhurst said officers would be taking action to prevent a repeat of the kind of violence and disorder seen around the TUC's March for the Alternative in London on Saturday.
The Met will take a different approach to policing Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton on April 29, watching out for every threat "from terrorism downwards", he said.
Asked if that could involve stopping and searching people on their way to central London on the day of the wedding, he said: "We are looking specifically at the royal wedding and what we can to do prevent Saturday's disorder and violence creeping in to that event.
"We always look at our powers to try to quell violence before it happens."
Mr Broadhurst said the wedding would present a very different policing challenge from Saturday's march, when up to 500,000 people protested peacefully before a few hundred got involved in violence and occupations at famous London venues such as Fortnum & Mason and the Ritz Hotel.
Police will be aware of the threat of terrorism targeting the many VIPs - known in police jargon as "principals" - who will be attending the wedding, he said.
"The royal wedding has a different tenor to it," said Mr Broadhurst. "It is a security operation largely in certain parts of London. That will give us different powers. It is quite appropriate that police have different powers in terms of security, as against people's rights to come and openly protest.
"You are looking at a different type of threat - the threat to the wedding is a threat to principals, it is a threat to democracy. For the wedding, we will be looking from terrorism downwards. For protests we are hoping people will come and protest peacefully. They are two different ends of the spectrum."
In a statement issued by Scotland Yard, Mr Broadhurst said: "This was on our radar before as we had picked up some suggestions after the student protests that the wedding may be a target for protest. This clearly focuses my concerns as Saturday was almost a litmus test to see if would face violence. We'll be working to make sure we know if people are going to target the wedding."
Anarchists will target royal wedding: police
LONDON — Anarchist militants who clashed with police during Saturday's march against public sector cuts will "deliberately target" next month's royal wedding, a senior policeman told Monday's Telegraph.
Commander Bob Broadhurst, head of public order for London's Metropolitan Police force, said groups who vandalised shops and landmarks during Saturday's protest would aim to disrupt the April 29 wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
"Yesterday reinforced the fact that there does appear to be an appetite out there to endorse violence," the policeman told the broadsheet newspaper.
"The concern for me is that they do what they did ... in central London and divert resources away from my security plan and take our eye off the ball security wise," he added.
The senior officer warned those "deliberately targeting" the royal event that the force would have "different powers" on the day of the wedding, including the ability to close roads and stop-and-search powers.
More than 200 people were arrested following Saturday's clashes, in which 31 police officers were injured.
courtesy - afp/ ukpa

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