Steve Woods“Look how many police are here, just for elderly people holding placards. It's a joke. The state is a joke.”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/over-arrested-hundreds-gather-defy-palestine-action-ban-london
Richard Michael Blaber@wood5y These OAPs are real "terrorists", aren't they? The genuine #criminals in #London must have been laughing their socks off!
Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK@rmblaber1956 @wood5y Metpol are flush with resources compared to other provincial constabularies - they can do this *and* nick the real criminals (for instance the same weekend they nicked the two lads who stabbed the rap video cameraman in Primrose hill)
Maybe the protestors should change tactics and hold the demos in provincial towns? Alas, I'm not sure though if the same level of support for them exists outside the big cities...
@vfrmedia @wood5y My point is there is an #opportunity #cost to this, & the #MetPolice are not THAT "flush with #resources". Every #black person they're harassing on the streets, & every #pensioner they're #arresting for supporting #PalestineAction & opposing #Israeli #genocide in #Gaza is a #burglar or #mugger they're NOT arresting. They devote far too much time, effort & money policing #protest, simply because the #Government & the #politicians don't like it.
@rmblaber1956 @wood5y Met have something like 33 000 officers compared to about 5 000 in Essex, so dealing with protest (or something like Notting Hill Carnival) isn't much of an immediate drain on officer numbers.
If we don't believe rightwing press paranoia and assume the bulk of Londoners *aren't* criminals, that means there are way more officers per average person in London than anywhere else.
What protest clampdowns do do is create a decline in trust between the Police and much of the general public (at least those they are targeting), which means that especially younger and working class folk aren't exactly going to dial 999 if they see someone robbing a house or trying to mug someone.
They might even try to sort things out themselves, which leads to more violence..
there is an opportunity cost but its more subtle - Met by and large do seem to manage to balance demands by central govt for policing protests (and even mass arrests) with everything else, but in doing so create a climate where they have less public support and criminals can take advantage of that.
Also protestors are an easy nick - they are all in one place - whereas burglars and muggers are more spread out and tend not to look that obvious, in some cases leading to racial profiling by more ignorant officers, and if someone has been robbed for their mobile phone whilst trying to buy drugs they don't always want to co-operate with the Police (but they might get their own peers to "do something", which leads to more stabbings)
@vfrmedia @wood5y Greater London's #population is 9,927,000 (see: https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/united-kingdom/london), so 33,000 #police #officers is only 1 per 300.818 #residents of all ages, if my #mathematics is correct. (0.3324%.)
