Police have to juggle being friend and foe

FURTHER to my recent letter referring to the Parliament Square meeting and the misinterpretation of our police involvement (“Make demonstrations peaceful to win support”, Mailbox, March 23), I have since been appalled to read in the press of city MP Claudia Webbe’s version of the volatile women’s meeting in central London.

Doesn’t she understand that the majority of outdoor protest meetings are subject to an element of troublemakers who are only there to create mayhem, whereby the necessary of the police presence was essential for safety reasons?

The police have to become both friend and foe, where a certain amount of decorum is needed to keep any meeting under control. But unfortunately there will always be those who are there to make it otherwise.

In my opinion, the vast majority of protesters appeared to have ignored the safety guidelines of keeping the stated 2m apart, and secondly many demonstrated their hatred of the police by slogans and disgusting chants.

So therefore it became the responsibility of the police to try to contain any violence they deem to be dangerous to the rest of the meeting.

Unfortunately, the public can only access the situation via the photographs and TV coverage, which always focuses on the most unsavoury incidents.

I appeal to everyone – do not jump to the wrong decision by condemning our police, who have an unenviable task which on rare occasions they find very difficult to carry out.

Ray Newcombe, Aylestone