I spent a very pleasant and engaging afternoon at Climate Camp over the weekend along with Anthony Barnett, Clare Coatman and Tony Daly. The level of organisation was impressive and there was lots of good discussions going on, including one on "Green authoritarianism" which I hope to post a proper write-up on soon along with some pics.
With the last day of the Camp tomorrow, the much hyped "community style" police operation has already been hailed as "really successful" by Chief Superintendant Helen Ball and it's true that, apart from the ominous Big Brother-like eye staring down on the Camp from a cherry picker outside, police intimidation in the form of blanket stop-and-search, baton charges and intrusive FIT, was mercifully absent. Indeed I didn't see a single officer during my trip there.
Paul Lewis in the Guardian has the Met's account of the tactics used as well as the reaction of Campers who, thankfully, aren't naive enough to think that a single heavily scrutinised protest in which their rights weren't trampled on amounts to a fundamental change in approach from the police:
Scotland Yard said tonight the model of policing used at Climate Camp, the week-long gathering of environmental activists that ends tomorrow, was a "really successful" approach that would be repeated at future demonstrations.
Chief Superintendant Helen Ball, a spokeswoman for policing at the campsite in Blackheath, south-east London, said neighbourhood-style tactics which included a "low-key" presence, limited surveillance of activists and almost no use of stop-and-search powers proved the Met had changed its approach since the G20 protests in April. The tactic is likely to be repeated at future demonstrations, she said, noting there had been just one arrest in seven days. "Where the opportunity arises to adopt a similar policing style in the future, we will do that."
The Met's six-day policing operation at the camp was in stark contrast to the way the force handled the April demonstrations, when many of the same protesters were "kettled" and charged with batons as they were forcibly cleared from Bishopsgate, central London, which they intended to occupy for one night.
Ball said the approach was "not an accident", but designed to build trust with activists after the G20 that would be repeated at future demonstrations. Organisers of the camp, which will end tomorrow as activists dismantle the site, which has been used as a model for sustainable living and training camp for activism, said more than 5,000 people took part in direct training workshops and discussion about global warming.
