Why are we attacking the police?

The most disturbing part of the G-20 summit was the horrible display of violence attributed to a fringe element that was bent on destruction and chaos. This group, thought to be in the neighbourhood of a few hundred, hid themselves within the legitimate protestors and at an opportune time donned attire that concealed their identity and brought out weapons that could be used to destroy property and inflict injuries to police officers. Is this the price a democratic society pays for the right to congregate and freely speak out against political decisions that they disagree with?


How do you prevent the criminal element from using a legitimate right to further their illegitimate actions? The police are often accused of either using too much or too little force to control people who may be getting dangerously close to turning their expression of peaceful protest into a violent outcome. From the perspective of the police, controlling a large crowd may quickly get out of control so clear rules of demonstration and protest must be followed.

The police had the responsibility to protect the leaders of the G-20. We can only imagine what would have happened if the police lost control of the crowd and the criminal element was able to attack each of the G-20 leaders with the same vengeance as we witnessed along the streets and businesses of Toronto? True, there needs to be a balance of the right to protest and the need to protect those whom the protesters want to leave their message with. The police need to prepare thoroughly for the event and try to anticipate what might happen in light of the environment in which the protest will take place. This is what the police did, taking into account what has happened in the past at similar events. They had the number of officers, weapons, tactics and other resources to handle arrests and detention of large numbers of protesters who were caught violating the law or ignoring directives from the police.

It was with dismay that we witnessed protesters coming back after the protests and carnage of the first day to confront the police again as if to taunt them for their failure to control and prevent the damage caused by the criminal element. In other words, instead of condemning the actions and helping the police identify the criminals in their midst, they turned their attention to the police and blamed them for their failure to stop the damage.

There is much to be learned about crowd control in a society that values the right of citizens to protest. It appears that some lessons have been learned from past experiences in other places but there is still more to learn to protect the rights of free speech and protest and the need to protect our leaders who make decisions for us all. One problem that was evident during the Toronto rioting were the intentions of the police and their failure to communicate them clearly to the protesters. On several occasions it was clear from the media accounts that this communication did not take place. Protesters faced police lines not aware of the police intention. Communication is vital during these protests. When police want specific actions to occur they need to announce this to the protesters before the action is taken, if possible, but also after the action the action is taken. A continual communication with loud speakers attempting to explain what the police need to do before it happens is vital. Often protesters are not aware what is happening in other parts of the city and the police need to change their tactics accordingly which need to be explained.

The police chief or spokesperson needs to be continually available to the media to explain what needs to be done to make the protest peaceful. The Toronto police chief attempted to do this but it needs to be sustained and available whenever a new situation arises. It would be helpful also if the police had an Internet site available as well as twitter and facebook advising citizens of places and streets to avoid and the reasons for this.

Protesters also have a responsibility in a free society to report criminal behaviour when they see it occurring. There were media reports that legitimate protesters stood back and watched as the criminals unleashed their violence. The media as well, filmed the violence as it was occurring and should readily turn over copies of their videos and photos to the police to help identify the perpetrators.

We need to realize that when the legitimate right to protest occurs in our country there will be those who hide their criminal intent among the legitimate protesters. This diminishes the issues of the legitimate protesters and effectively interferes with a citizen's right of free speech. For protesters to stand back and watch or ignore the behaviour of the criminals in their midst is no right at all.