In addition, assistant commissioner Matt Twist, who oversees public order and protest police in all of London, acknowledged that the force “didn’t get everything right” when it came to handling protests in the past.
It happens at the same time as a report said that “a new era of increasingly disruptive protests” was pressuring people to cancel plans to go to the stores or to tourist destinations.
Since October of last year, there have been numerous rallies and counter-demonstrations, organized by organizations advocating for a cease-fire in the Israeli-Hamas war as well as environmental activists.
After an incident in Southport in July that claimed the lives of three girls, protests also turned violent and disorderly.
Prior to the unrest in the summer, Mr. Twist made remarks to the right-wing think tank Policy Exchange in May that were recently made public. “When we look back at the policing of protests over the last eight months, we know we didn’t get everything right – particularly in the early stages in October,” he said.
“As we are now much more focused on determining appropriate reasons for an arrest, taking necessary action, and then conducting an investigation, it is quite possible that arrests would be conducted more swiftly in these circumstances.
