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# "The crowd in uniform may be the more violent" warns former police chief
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/the-crowd-in-uniform-may-be-the-more-violent-warns-former-police-chief/
- Published: 2009-04-08T18:04:38.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:42:55.000Z
- Author: Guy Aitchison
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:49

**Guy Aitchison (London,** [**OK**](https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom)**):** As the fallout from the [video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUMhGZhOP8w&eurl=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1168315/New-post-mortem-G20-victim-Met-faces-claims-attacked-TWICE-riot-police.html&feature=player%5Fembedded&ref=opendemocracy.net) showing the brutal police assault on Ian Tomlinson continues, former Assistant Commissioner of Special Operations at the Met, Andy Hayman, [warns in the Times](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6059877.ece?ref=opendemocracy.net) that serious questions must be asked about police tactics at the G20 demonstrations (you can read my experience of the policing and the disgusting practice of "kettling" peaceful protesters [here](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/ourkingdom-theme/guy-aitchison/2009/04/06/does-britain-have-a-problem-with-the-police)). Hayman, who mingled with both police and protestors last Wednesday, warns that "the commissioner must ask serious questions about the style of policing. If left unchecked, we have a more violent crowd in uniform than the crowd demonstrating."