Anti-fracking protest policing outside Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site, 20 July 2017. Photo: DrillOrDrop
Anti-fracking campaigners have called on police to protect their civil right to protest. They were responding to a report published this morning alleging “confrontational and “aggressive” policing. Two police forces in fracking protest areas said they have a duty to balance the right to protest with rights of the wider public.
The report, by the police monitoring group Netpol, called for an external and independent review of policing at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site near Blackpool in Lancashire. DrillOrDrop article here
Netpol reported on protest policing at Preston New Road, Third Energy’s Kirby Misperton well pad in North Yorkshire and at sites in Sussex and Surrey.
DrillOrDrop invited police forces and police and crime commissioners in all four counties to respond to Netpol’s allegations. This article will be updated as we receive new responses.
“Balancing rights”
Lancashire Police
“Our aim as always is to ensure is a consistent and coordinated policing response and ensure a balance between the rights of people to peacefully protest, together with the rights of the wider public, including local businesses, to go about their lawful activities.
“We aim to prevent, where possible, crime and disorder, but if it does occur we will provide an effective, lawful and proportionate response.”
“Competing demands”
Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner, Clive Grunshaw
“The policing operation on Preston New Road is in place to ensure public safety on what is a very busy and vital route.
“Officers at the fracking site are caught between competing demands of facilitating peaceful protest and allowing companies to conduct their lawful business, as well as keeping an important emergency services route open as much as possible.
“Where people do have concerns about the actions of the police, in these cases there is a well-publicised, robust complaints procedure which makes sure that individual incidents are fully investigated.”
“Inconsistent and oppressive policing”
Frack Free Lancashire
A spokesperson said:
“Since Cuadrilla started work we have continually expressed concern about the way in which Lancashire Police have facilitated their work, but have not given equal weight to the right to protest of those opposed to the fracking operations.
“We are fighting a David versus Goliath battle against an invasive industry and yet the current policing model has created a skewed narrative that it is protesters versus the police.
“Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, we need the police to protect our hard-won civil right to protest, but this is simply not happening.
“Instead we face inconsistent and oppressive policing, from forces from all around the country, which use legislation intended for industrial disputes to criminalise citizens who have explored all other legitimate means of protest and have seen fracking imposed upon them in spite of a democratic decision to forbid it.
“We once again call upon our MP, Mark Menzies, to recognise the importance of this issue for all of the community that he represents and to ask some serious questions in parliament.”
“Lancashire protest policing is proportionate and necessary”
Backing Fracking
“Netpol, which provides activists with guidance on how to evade arrest when undertaking direct action and is therefore hardly an unbiased observer, is wholly wrong to suggest that the policing response in Lancashire has been anything but proportionate and necessary.
“If it weren’t for a small number of hardened national activists intent on causing trouble, the protests on Preston New Road could have enjoyed a much more low-key policing response. As it is, the police have had no choice but to maintain a large number of officers at the site just-in-case.
“When officer numbers have been scaled-back, activists have been quick to take advantage with lock-on protests and ‘lorry surfing’.
“If Netpol is truly worried about the costs of policing fracking protests, which now exceed £4 million in Lancashire, it could help to reduce them by actively discouraging unlawful forms of protest.”
Policing direct action outside Third Energy’s Kirby Misperton site, 2 October 2017. Photo: Eddie Thornton
“Responsibility to carry out duties impartially”
North Yorkshire Police
Superintendent Alisdair Dey, of North Yorkshire Police, said:
“We know that there are very different views about hydraulic fracturing, but as the local police, our responsibility is to carry out our duties impartially.
“That means we have a duty to make sure that people who want to assemble and protest do so safely, balanced against a duty to ensure that businesses can go about their lawful commercial activity.
“We’ll continue to take a neighbourhood policing approach to protests – we will talk to people, explain what is acceptable in terms of safety and reasonableness, and ask them to work with us to make this a safe and peaceful protest.”
“Emotionally-charged and sensitive area”
Sussex Police
Chief Inspector Howard Hodges said:
“Protest policing is a complex area that is often highly emotionally charged and sensitive. As a service we have a duty to protect public safety during protests. Police must be able to respond quickly to changing situations in way that is intelligence-led, proportionate, transparent and ensures the rights of all parties are protected.
“In Surrey and Sussex we remain committed to policing protest events in relation to oil and gas activity in such a manner as to protect life, prevent damage to property and facilitate peaceful protest whilst maintaining the freedom of the community and business to engage in lawful activity.
“In all protests, the police service is tasked with maintaining order and safety. We do not engage on either side of the debate – our job is to keep the peace.
“The content of this report has been noted and we remain committed to learning and delivering this area of policing activity in the most effective way possible.”
“Trust must be repaired”
Green Party MEP, Keith Taylor
“If local residents are beginning to question whether officers are working to protect them or just the interests of the oil and gas industry, the notion of consent has broken down – and trust must be repaired.”
Categories: policing
DRILL OR DROP? 
Excellent report Ruth.
Here is Ian R Crane’s video from Kirby Misperton on the subject. I know how you all like to see Ian’s reports.
Enjoy!
What a novel and revolutionary idea……that other people have rights too! I was beginning to think that it was only the “protectors” who had rights. I’m appreciative to the police for pointing out that the vast majority of society – those not protesting – have rights worth protecting. Nice to see some sanity creep into the discussion!
Just because people don’t protest does not mean they don’t agree with the protesters! I hope all our rights are being upheld!!!
Netpol…. Hmm trying very hard to come across as some sort of official organisation but they aren’t. Another left wing outlet that’s attempting to preach nonsense.
The rise in number of left wing websites in the UK over past 2yrs is mind blowing and ppl that can’t think for themselves are falling for it.
Thank heavens we have Gotta BKidding to think for us and put us right! It’s simple, left wing equals nonsense. It’s the ‘hmm’ that clinches it. You’ve ‘gottaBKidding’!
You’re bang on target for a change. Ah if only it weren’t cynicism. Keep up the bad work!
From all the antis videos I’ve seen it’s them that are confrontational and not the police! The police are doing an excellent job in very difficult circumstances! [Edited by moderator]
Even the tea lady with police surrounding her!! I’m afraid I have lost all respect for our police, after the way I have seen them treating protesters, young and old!!! They are very brave to oppose the fracking companies. Climare change is only just starting to affect us, and we simply can’t afford to let fracking happen, if we care!
Absolutely correct. Plenty of hooligans mixed in with the crowd. You just need to take one look at them and feel a sense of pity.
That’s no way to talk about the police peeny? i think the only sense of pity i get, is to see the police so misused and embarrassed to be doing the invaders job for them.
Nothing like co opting our own police, government and law courts against us, is there?
I wonder what would Churchill would have said if the Germans had taken out an injunction against the British to stop them protecting our own country in 1939? I have often wondered what the two fingers represented, now i know.
I am using the “royal them” of course, meaning everyone British, including my parents and those of……..almost, everyone here.
This report is no more than I expected. As a LocaI have been to Preston New Roar site quite a number of times and watched how accommodating the police are to Caudrilla while they tend to treat protestors as deluded country bunkins. I have a complaint about police actions on Fri 28/7/17 when after a day of peaceful protest 20 minutes before everyone was going home police decided to allow two 4 by 4’s from the site to force their way off helped by security guards causing danger to all and causing a large disturbance.. I have detailed video footage and await still a appeal result after LCC Police standards took 6 weeks and decided police actions OK without even seeing my footage.
As for Police Commissioner . They are so on the side of the police it is worrying that such an organisation pretends to speak for the people of Lancashire
Why would two 4X4s have to “force their way off (site)”?? Only the case if they were being OBSTRUCTED from doing so! Take him down.