Why and how the policing of public protest has changed in the last 25 years

... Why and how the policing of public protest has changed in the last 25 years Historically political protests, demonstrations and riots were quite common in Britain. What was not common however, was a structured public service department equipped to deal with such events. This essay will purport to show how and why policing of public protest has changed in the past 25 years. Eighteenth century Britain experienced some horrendous rioting, i.e. the St George's Field Massacre 1768[1], the Gordon Riots 1780[2] and the Peterloo Massacre in 1819[3], is this a mirror image of things to come. One of the major functions of the police has always been the control of public order, i.e. demonstrations, sports grounds, festivals and striking pickets. "The duty of a police officer....includes the preservation of the peace, or rather the prevention of a breach of the peace..."[4] It is also understood that the police have

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