9/9/2002: Bad policing

Undertoad · 09-09-2002, 11:42 AM

There's a way to get that done that is effective, responsible, and respectful of both sides. In the middle of that Portland Tribune story is an explanation: there used to be a city commissioner who kinda negotiated with the cops about how the ride would work, but he left.

Philly just had a commish who understood how to police crowds: John Timoney. (No, Syc, not "T-Money.") There's a science to it, I should think. You'd want to target and isolate the *real* troublemakers, without making it an us-vs-them situation. The last thing you'd want to do is to randomly arrest people and use as much force as possible just to make a show of it.

Good policing means not getting angry; calmly assessing the situation and using the correct amount of force that's called for. These guys just made it worse. They've guaranteed a rematch, for one thing.

At the very least the bikers should have been made known what was going to happen and what conditions were going to be enforced. This could have been done in the name of public safety and in the understanding of the importance of organized civil disobedience. Instead they decided to create a most unsafe situation. Bad tactics, bad strategy, bad will towards all.

09-09-2002, 11:42 AM	#4
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	There's a way to get that done that is effective, responsible, and respectful of both sides. In the middle of that Portland Tribune story is an explanation: there used to be a city commissioner who kinda negotiated with the cops about how the ride would work, but he left. Philly just had a commish who understood how to police crowds: John Timoney. (No, Syc, not "T-Money.") There's a science to it, I should think. You'd want to target and isolate the real troublemakers, without making it an us-vs-them situation. The last thing you'd want to do is to randomly arrest people and use as much force as possible just to make a show of it. Good policing means not getting angry; calmly assessing the situation and using the correct amount of force that's called for. These guys just made it worse. They've guaranteed a rematch, for one thing. At the very least the bikers should have been made known what was going to happen and what conditions were going to be enforced. This could have been done in the name of public safety and in the understanding of the importance of organized civil disobedience. Instead they decided to create a most unsafe situation. Bad tactics, bad strategy, bad will towards all.

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