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How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody
The Times has reconstructed the death of George Floyd on May 25. Security footage, witness videos and official documents show how a series of actions by officers turned fatal. (This video contains scenes of graphic violence.)
It’s a Monday evening in Minneapolis. Police respond to a call about a man who allegedly used a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Seventeen minutes later, the man they are there to investigate lies motionless on the ground, and is pronounced dead shortly after. The man was 46-year-old George Floyd, a bouncer originally from Houston who had lost his job at a restaurant when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Crowd: “No justice, no peace.” Floyd’s death triggered major protests in Minneapolis, and sparked rage across the country. One of the officers involved, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. The other three officers have been charged with aiding and abetting murder. The Times analyzed bystander videos, security camera footage and police scanner audio, spoke to witnesses and experts, and reviewed documents released by the authorities to build as comprehensive a picture as possible and better understand how George Floyd died in police custody. The events of May 25 begin here. Floyd is sitting in the driver’s seat of this blue S.U.V. Across the street is a convenience store called Cup Foods. Footage from this restaurant security camera helps us understand what happens next. Note that the timestamp on the camera is 24 minutes fast. At 7:57 p.m., two employees from Cup Foods confront Floyd and his companions about an alleged counterfeit bill he just used in their store to buy cigarettes. They demand the cigarettes back but walk away empty-handed. Four minutes later, they call the police. According to the 911 transcript, an employee says that Floyd used fake bills to buy cigarettes, and that he is “awfully drunk” and “not in control of himself.” Soon, the first police vehicle arrives on the scene. Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng step out of the car and approach the blue S.U.V. Seconds later, Lane pulls his gun. We don’t know exactly why. He orders Floyd to put his hands on the wheel. Lane reholsters the gun, and after about 90 seconds of back and forth, yanks Floyd out of the S.U.V. A man is filming the confrontation from a car parked behind them. The officers cuff Floyd’s hands behind his back. And Kueng walks him to the restaurant wall. “All right, what’s your name?” From the 911 transcript and the footage, we now know three important facts: First, that the police believed they were responding to a man who was drunk and out of control. But second, even though the police were expecting this situation, we can see that Floyd has not acted violently. And third, that he seems to already be in distress. Six minutes into the arrest, the two officers move Floyd back to their vehicle. As the officers approach their car, we can see Floyd fall to the ground. According to the criminal complaints filed against the officers, Floyd says he is claustrophobic and refuses to enter the police car. During the struggle, Floyd appears to turn his head to address the officers multiple times. According to the complaints, he tells them he can’t breathe. Nine minutes into the arrest, the third and final police car arrives on the scene. It’s carrying officers Tou Thao and Derek Chauvin. Both have previous records of complaints brought against them. Thao was once sued for throwing a man to the ground and hitting him. Chauvin has been involved in three police shootings, one of them fatal. Chauvin becomes involved in the struggle to get Floyd into the car. Security camera footage from Cup Foods shows Kueng struggling with Floyd in the backseat while Thao watches. Chauvin pulls him through the back seat and onto the street. We don’t know why. Floyd is now lying on the pavement, face down. That’s when two witnesses begin filming, almost simultaneously. The footage from the first witness shows us that all four officers are now gathered around Floyd. It’s the first moment when we can clearly see that Floyd is face down on the ground, with three officers applying pressure to his neck, torso and legs. At 8:20 p.m., we hear Floyd’s voice for the first time. The video stops when Lane appears to tell the person filming to walk away. “Get off to the sidewalk, please. One side or the other, please.” The officers radio a Code 2, a call for non-emergency medical assistance, reporting an injury to Floyd’s mouth. In the background, we can hear Floyd struggling. The call is quickly upgraded to a Code 3, a call for emergency medical assistance. By now another bystander, 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, is filming from a different angle. Her footage shows that despite calls for medical help, Chauvin keeps Floyd pinned down for another seven minutes. We can’t see whether Kueng and Lane are still applying pressure. Floyd: [gasping] Officer: “What do you want?” Bystander: “I’ve been —” Floyd: [gasping] In the two videos, Floyd can be heard telling officers that he can’t breathe at least 16 times in less than five minutes. Bystander: “You having fun?” But Chauvin never takes his knee off of Floyd, even as his eyes close and he appears to go unconscious. Bystander: “Bro.” According to medical and policing experts, these four police officers are committing a series of actions that violate policies, and in this case, turn fatal. They’ve kept Floyd lying face down, applying pressure for at least five minutes. This combined action is likely compressing his chest and making it impossible to breathe. Chauvin is pushing his knee into Floyd’s neck, a move banned by most police departments. Minneapolis Police Department policy states an officer can only do this if someone is, quote, “actively resisting.” And even though the officers call for medical assistance, they take no action to treat Floyd on their own while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Officer: “Get back on the sidewalk.” According to the complaints against the officers, Lane asks him twice if they should roll Floyd onto his side. Chauvin says no. Twenty minutes into the arrest, an ambulance arrives on the scene. Bystander: “Get off of his neck!” Bystander: “He’s still on him?” The E.M.T.s check Floyd’s pulse. Bystander: “Are you serious?” Chauvin keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost another whole minute, even though Floyd appears completely unresponsive. He only gets off once the E.M.T.s tell him to. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, according to our review of the video evidence. Floyd is loaded into the ambulance. The ambulance leaves the scene, possibly because a crowd is forming. But the E.M.T.s call for additional medical help from the fire department. But when the engine arrives, the officers give them, quote, “no clear info on Floyd or his whereabouts,” according to a fire department incident report. This delays their ability to help the paramedics. Meanwhile, Floyd is going into cardiac arrest. It takes the engine five minutes to reach Floyd in the ambulance. He’s pronounced dead at a nearby hospital around 9:25 p.m. Preliminary autopsies conducted by the state and Floyd’s family both ruled his death a homicide. The widely circulated arrest videos don’t paint the entire picture of what happened to George Floyd. Crowd: “Floyd! Floyd!” Additional video and audio from the body cameras of the key officers would reveal more about why the struggle began and how it escalated. The city quickly fired all four officers. And Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting murder. But outrage over George Floyd’s death has only spread further and further across the United States.
By Shaila Dewan and Mike Baker
[Follow our live updates on the George Floyd protests across the country.]
Demonstrations continued across the United States on Sunday as the nation braced for another grueling night of unrest over police shootings and the death of George Floyd, amid growing concern that aggressive law enforcement tactics intended to impose order were instead inflaming tensions.
Videos showed police officers in recent nights using batons, tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets on protesters, bystanders and journalists, often without warning or seemingly unprovoked. The footage, which has been shared widely online, highlighted the very complaints over police behavior that have drawn protests in at least 75 cities across the United States.
In Salt Lake City, officers in riot gear shoved a man with a cane to the ground.
In Brooklyn, two police S.U.V.s plowed into a crowd of protesters.
In Atlanta, police officers enforcing a curfew stopped two college students in a car, fired Tasers on them and dragged them out of the vehicle.
And in Minneapolis, where there have been six consecutive nights of protests and clashes, a video appeared to show officers yelling at people on their porches to get inside and then firing paint canisters at them. “Light them up,” one officer said.
[See photos from a sixth night of protest in cities across America.]
As crowds began gathering again in cities on Sunday, President Trump resisted calls to address the tensions roiling the country. Instead he used Twitter to criticize local Democratic leaders for not doing more to control the protests.
Mayors and police chiefs spent the day explaining, defending and promising full investigations into the actions of officers seen on the disturbing videos.
“I didn’t like what I saw one bit. I did not want to ever see something like that,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, who also complimented the city’s police officers for generally showing a “tremendous amount of restraint.”
Military vehicles in recent nights have moved down city streets as phalanxes of officers in full riot gear fired clouds of noxious gas. Yet the show of force showed little sign that it would bring calm.
Instead, some people said, it was escalating tensions and serving as a reminder of the regular use of military equipment and tactics by local police forces.
Mass demonstrations are among the most difficult situations that the police have to manage. They must balance constitutional liberties with the safety of officers and the public. Crowds are unpredictable and, in recent days, sometimes hostile. Too much force can escalate the situation — but so can too little.
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Not all protests have erupted in violence, with some police forces showing a more positive relationship with their communities. In Petersburg, Va., Chief Kenneth Miller and a handful of police officers appeared alongside protesters to show solidarity. In Newark, a city where half the population is black, protests were angry but nonviolent.
And in Oklahoma City on Sunday, as a crowd of marchers seemed to grow tense, officers with the sheriff’s department’s tactical team took a knee in a pose popularized by the former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The protesters cheered.
In other places, there was open hostility, with chaotic scenes and constant videotaping among protesters increasing the scrutiny on the tactics used by the police.
In Seattle, a video taken on Friday showed officers detaining someone on the ground and repeatedly punching the person.
Dae Shik Kim Jr., who was in the area and shared the video on behalf of a friend who wanted to remain anonymous, said it was just one in a series of tactics that troubled him during the protests.
“The tone that we felt from the police is: This is their rally,” Mr. Kim said. “They are going to control it from the beginning. They are going to dictate what happens. It’s a very offensive type of approach.”
In one arrest, captured on video after a group of people had gone into a damaged retail store, one officer put a knee on the back of the arrestee’s neck. Mr. Floyd, the man whose death on May 25 inspired protests in Minneapolis that have spread across the country, died after an officer kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for close to nine minutes.
As onlookers in Seattle shouted at the officer to remove his knee, his partner reached over and pulled it away.
The Seattle Police Department has said that officers that day took action after being assaulted with rocks, bottles and other projectiles, and that all uses of force would undergo a high level of scrutiny.
Chief Erika Shields of the Atlanta Police Department condemned the actions of the officers who fired upon the college students with a Taser, saying the episode had only underscored the fear and wariness that people of color have of the police. The officers involved were fired.
“I know that we caused further fear to you in a space that’s already so fearful for so many African-Americans, and I am genuinely sorry,” Chief Shields said in a news conference on Sunday. “This is not who we are. This is not what we’re about.”
In Minneapolis, businesses have been burned and looted and the National Guard has been called in to help restore order. But a member of the City Council, Jeremiah Ellison, summed up the situation this way: The police started it.
“No one was looting anything in the first night of this protest, no one was lighting anything on fire on the first night of this protest, and yet the response from the police was incredibly brutal,” he said. “The original provocation to street violence was from our officers.”
On the day after Mr. Floyd died, Mr. Ellison gathered with others at the site where Mr. Floyd was detained and walked with them to a nearby police precinct, he said. The crowd was relatively peaceful, he said, but the officers sprayed tear gas. Once the marchers reached the precinct, tensions grew, but in Mr. Ellison’s view the police overreacted.
“One of the city’s employees has just murdered someone in the most brutal fashion,” he said, “and for you to then pretend like you’re the victim and you’re under siege, to fire mace and tear gas and rubber bullets in response to water bottles being thrown — you have at that point 100 percent antagonized the situation.”
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Mr. Ellison said the decision could have been made at that point to allow the precinct to be vandalized — a practice known as “negotiated management,” allowing some illegal activity like blocking a highway or damaging property in order to prevent worse events like arson or physical attacks.
Instead, when the police abandoned the precinct two days later, allowing protesters to set it afire, it was too late, Mr. Ellison said: “What could have been a strategic containment of destruction on Day 1 became a victory on the battlefield by Day 3.”
Many people complained that police officers across the country treated the crowds protesting racist policing with far less respect than they did the right-wing demonstrations in recent weeks against public health lockdown orders.
Experts agreed, saying research shows that the police are more likely to respond with force when they are the subject of protest, and that they respond more aggressively toward younger crowds and people of color than they do toward white and older people.
“There’s deep resentment on the part of the police that so many people are angry at them, and they’re lashing out,” said Alex Vitale, a sociologist at Brooklyn College who studies the police response to protest and coordinates the Policing and Social Justice Project. “Look at what we saw — people sitting on their own stoops getting hit with pepper balls. Anyone who looks at them funny, they’re attacking them.”
Paul Schnell, the Minnesota Department of Corrections commissioner, who was assisting in the official response, later apologized for that incident, which actually involved paint canisters. “We do not want there to be collateral harm,” he said.
In many places, the police defended their tactics as necessary to deter crime. In Dallas, Chief U. Reneé Hall said pepper spray and tear gas were needed to disperse demonstrators who were vandalizing property. “We will not tolerate tearing up our cities, our communities,” she said, according to The Dallas Morning News.
But critics said the protest was “a simple march” and the response was unwarranted.
The militarization of the nation’s police departments in recent decades has been on full display. But such equipment and training, including armored personnel carriers and SWAT team training, have been heavily criticized for warping the relationship between the police and the communities they serve.
Jennifer Cobbina, a criminal justice professor at Michigan State University, has researched the response to the protests in Ferguson, Mo., after the death of Michael Brown at the hands of the police in 2014, and in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray in 2015.
In Baltimore, she said, the police gave people more space to protest for longer before cracking down on unrest, resulting in a more favorable view of the police and a better understanding of the challenges they face. But Ferguson, where the unrest refused to die down, was heavily militarized.
“It makes a lot of the residents feel like the police are coming in as an occupying force,” she said. “This only creates a greater divide. The harder the state comes at them, the harder they’ll come back.”
Ben Fenwick and Rick Rojas contributed reporting.
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FAQs
How do police respond to protests? ›
During protests, the police often use searches as a way of finding out who is present, both for intelligence purposes and to intimidate you. Police also use arrest as a means of gathering information, particularly when they arrest a large number of people together (mass arrest).
What is the greatest challenge in policing today? ›One of the biggest challenges facing law enforcement is retention and recruitment within police departments. In a 2021 survey by the Police Executive Research Forum, law enforcement agencies reported an 18% increase in resignations and a 45% increase in retirements compared to the previous year.
What protests have been successful? ›- Boston Tea Party—December 16, 1773.
- Women's Suffrage Parade—March 3, 1913.
- March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—August 18, 1963.
- Stonewall Inn Riots—June 28 to July 3, 1969.
- May Day Protests—May 3 to May 5, 1971.
- The March for Our Lives—March 24, 2018.
14, 1941: Rally Against Police Brutality. On Sept. 14, 1941 four marches from different points in the city of Washington, D.C. got underway, involving an estimated 2,000 total participants.
What strategies do police use to resolve conflicts? ›They listen respectfully, establish common ground rules, emphasize shared values, discuss issues openly and honestly, and take responsibility for having created problems, as well as for implementing solutions.
What do police do to stop riots? ›Since the 1980s, riot control officers have also used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, stun grenades, and electric tasers. In some cases, riot squads may also use Long Range Acoustic Devices, water cannons, armoured fighting vehicles, aerial surveillance, police dogs or mounted police on horses.
What are the 3 biggest challenges to the criminal justice system today? ›- Human Trafficking. ...
- Mental Illness. ...
- Drug Crime. ...
- Cybercrime. ...
- Homeland Security.
Domestic terrorism, gangs, illegal narcotics, gun violence, cyber-crimes, social media, behavioral health and highway safety issues pose significant challenges for law enforcement at all levels, and this is not an all-inclusive list by any means.
What are the problems of the police force? ›The problems facing the police include: poor welfare, poor salaries and remuneration, inadequate funding, inadequate equipment, negative image, lack of respect, corruption, inadequate number of police officers, legal/ establishment challenges, operational challenges and political challenges.
What is the biggest protest in history? ›- Indian farmers protest (2020-2021)
- George Floyd and Black Lives Matter (2020)
- Women's March (2017)
- Anti-Iraq War protests (2003)
- Tiananmen Square (1989)
- The Baltic Way (1989)
- People's Protest (1986)
- Earth Day (1970)
What is the largest protest of all time? ›
The one in Rome involved around three million people, and is listed in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records as the largest anti-war rally in history.
What are some recent protests? ›- 2.1 Rochester protests, February 1, 2021.
- 2.2 Manhattan protests, February 12, 2021.
- 2.3 Trial of Derek Chauvin protests, March 7, 2021–June 25, 2021.
- 2.4 Atlanta shooting protests, March 16, 2021–ongoing.
- 2.5 Daunte Wright protests, April 11, 2021–December 23, 2021.
- 2.6 Adam Toledo protests, April 15, 2021–ongoing.
WHY IS POLICE BRUTALITY A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE? At its worst, unlawful use of force by police can result in people being deprived of their right to life. If police force is unnecessary or excessive, it may also amount to torture or other ill-treatment.
What is the main cause of police brutality? ›Overall Stress of the Job
In some cases, acts of police brutality are caused by the stress of the job. If the law enforcement officer or agency as a whole views members of the public as unsympathetic or even hostile to their role, they may act out of stress in a tense situation.
For example, police brutality engenders a lack of confidence in law enforcement institutions. Consequently, police brutality makes effective police work more difficult and the communities they serve less safe, increasing the overall strain on public health.
What are the 5 main conflict resolution strategies? ›According to the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), used by human resource (HR) professionals around the world, there are five major styles of conflict management—collaborating, competing, avoiding, accommodating, and compromising.
What are 4 major strategies for reducing crime? ›four major prevention strategies: law enforcement, and developmental, community, and situational prevention.
What are the 7 listed strategies for resolving conflict? ›- Welcome healthy disagreement.
- Preempt unnecessary conflict.
- Familiarize yourself with different approaches.
- Respect boundaries.
- Resolve emotions before disputes.
- Address tension when it arises.
- Act quickly.
They must provide at least two warnings in two different languages and give reasonable time for the protests to dissolve. When protestors don't stick to the rules, they can be arrested. If the SAPS sees someone committing a crime or have cause to believe someone was involved, they can stop them.
Do we need police permission to protest? ›To hold a lawful protest, you have to get prior permission from the police. For this, you need to: Get the forms to obtain permissions. These will be available at any police station or even on the Karnataka State Police website.
How do police control the crowd? ›
Before using force, the police have to give warning to the assembly that force will be used to disperse them. If the crowd refuses, then the police can resort to force for dispersal. The intensity and manner of force that will be used depends upon the circumstances.
How can we solve the problem of crime? ›- Target Hardening. Making your property harder for an offender to access. ...
- Target Removal. Ensuring that a potential target is out of view. ...
- Reducing the Means. ...
- Reducing the Payoff. ...
- Access Control. ...
- Surveillance. ...
- Environmental Change. ...
- Rule Setting.
- Denmark. Denmark is a Scandinavian country due to its position on the Jutland Peninsula. ...
- Norway. With a solid judicial system that keeps the country's ruling powers in check, Norway has meager crime rates and no civil unrest. ...
- Finland. ...
- Sweden. ...
- Netherlands. ...
- Germany. ...
- New Zealand. ...
- Austria.
- Policing.
- Pretrial Justice.
- Community Supervision.
- Prisons.
- Reintegration.
- Community Safety.
- Police Accountability.
- Violence Reduction.
- Active shooter response. ...
- Police transparency and public records. ...
- Officer recruitment. ...
- Immigration and sanctuary laws. ...
- Police use of force and de-escalation policies. ...
- Conclusion.
The most common problems encountered by police personnel in managing records are insufficient storage for files and records and waste of time in finding the needed files.
What are the challenges that police officers facing today Philippines? ›The Philippine National Police (PNP) faces myriad challenges, spanning governance, corruption and national security threats. Hence, securing a strong leadership pipeline equipped not only to face these challenges, but also to strengthen policing effectiveness and over-all security sector reforms is crucial.
What are some of the causes and effects of police stress? ›“Stressors associated with operational stress include issues experienced by officers which may include fatigue, back pain due to duty belt, the ability to handle traumatic events, shift work, eating habits, work load, communication with supervisors, communication with coworkers, public support dealing with the court ...
What are the ethical issues facing police officers? ›Law Enforcement Ethical Issues
Five modern ethical issues in law enforcement involve the officer's off-duty life, upholding the law and your rights, using necessary force, acting impartially and profiling.
The study identified two primary reasons for this incoherence: operational processes that are poorly aligned with agencies' or officers' priorities, and public expectations that are incompatible with the realities of officers' work.
What was the main protest by people? ›
This is an Expert-Verified Answer
The main protest by the people was the price of bread. This question is in reference to the history chapter 'The French Revolution. '
Students protested at the civil rights rally. They were protesting against the death penalty. Peace activists protested the war. She protested that the law was unfair.
Why is the right to protest important in a democracy? ›Protest thus often serves to promote Social justice and also to protect and promote. the formal safeguards and institutions of liberal democracy which play some role in sustaining social justice.
What is the protest capital of the world? ›South Africa has been dubbed "the protest capital of the world", with one of the highest rates of public protests in the world.
What state has the most protest? ›This is a list of some of their locations in the United States. The state with the most protests is California, which has over fifty protest locations (see List of Occupy movement protest locations in California).
What are some examples of violent protests? ›Examples of violent protests include the Watts Riots, the Black Panther takeover of the California legislature, among others. The two MLK groups will confer together, as will the two Malcolm X groups. They will compare notes in preparation for a controlled discussion with their opposite minded groups.
What is popular protest? ›"Popular protest and rebellions" should be defined as attempts by ordinary people to influence, or comment upon, issues decided by governments.
What are some topics to protest about? ›- Abortion.
- Environment.
- Globalization.
- Guns.
- Immigration.
- Labor.
- LGBTQ+ rights.
- Race.
1. Punctual political actions that may or not involve social movements and may take different forms, such as strikes, uprisings, riots, boycotts, sit-ins and demonstrations.
What was the first protest against police brutality? ›14, 1941: Rally Against Police Brutality. On Sept. 14, 1941 four marches from different points in the city of Washington, D.C. got underway, involving an estimated 2,000 total participants.
What causes unethical behavior in police? ›
Unethical behaviour arises when officers' demands for compensation overrides their public duty. The compensation sought by police can take a variety of forms. At one end are the illegal material benefits an officer may extract from the public or organization. At the other are psychological rewards.
How does police brutality violate civil rights? ›The use of unlawful deadly force violates an individual's right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures protected by the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. There are several remedies available to you if you have suffered from police misconduct and other civil rights violations.
Why is police brutality a social ISSUE? ›Summary. Police brutality (excessive force) causes significant physical and psychological harm to victims, entails considerable financial costs to communities, and undermines the legitimacy of the institution of policing. The victims of police brutality in the United States are disproportionately black or Hispanic.
What is another word for police brutality? ›| police violence | state terrorism |
|---|---|
| state violence | human rights abuses |
| human rights violations | police crackdown |
| police misconduct |
Under the ADA, individuals who suffered from unreasonable police brutality can file civil lawsuits. The laws mentioned above can offer protection in a variety of different circumstances that involve improper police conduct, including but not limited to: Addressing complaints by individuals.
When did police brutality begin? ›Early records suggest that labor strikes were the first large-scale incidents of police brutality in the United States, including events like the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Pullman Strike of 1894, the Lawrence Textile Strike of 1912, the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, the Great Steel Strike of 1919, and the Hanapepe ...
What is the remedy for police brutality? ›Victims of police misconduct, brutality, or excessive force can file a lawsuit in California. That lawsuit is usually based on civil rights violations. The lawsuit can seek money damages for the victim. It can also demand an injunction that would prevent future misconduct.
How did the police respond to protests at the Democratic? ›Chicago Mayor Richard Daley deployed 12,000 police officers and called in another 15,000 state and federal officers to contain the protesters. The situation then rapidly spiraled out of control, with the policemen severely beating and gassing the demonstrators, as well as newsmen and doctors who had come to help.
What does the police do to intervene in service delivery protests? ›Lawful protests must dissolve at the time that the organisers agreed on and if the police services (SAPS) give an order. It is illegal to continue to disobey the SAPS order and it can lead to arrest.
What do Response police do? ›Response policing is the term widely used to describe the teams of police officers that respond to emergency and non-emergency calls from members of the public. Response policing teams are made up of constables and a sergeant with a response inspector overseeing them.
Do you need to inform police of a protest? ›
By law you must tell the police in writing 6 days before a public march if you're the organiser. Tell the police the: date and time of the march. route.
Why do police film protests? ›Similar police units
They also record footage of people involved in anti-social behaviour on the streets. The aim is to give other police officers up to date information on the appearance of people who have broken the law.
Police as an agency of the government, is entrusted with the task of crime control and contribute to public order. The organizational conditions in which they perform in their means to realize the ends vary greatly between democratic societies. Some of the general characteristics remain universal.
What is the goal of the defund the police movement? ›"Defund the police" is a slogan that supports removing funds from police departments and reallocating them to non-policing forms of public safety and community support, such as social services, youth services, housing, education, healthcare and other community resources.
What is the impact of service delivery protests in communities? ›It is further argued that both violent and non-violent service delivery-related protests have positive impacts on socio-economic development as they influence the decision-making and policy-making process.
When can police stop a protest? ›They must provide at least two warnings in two different languages and give reasonable time for the protests to dissolve. When protestors don't stick to the rules, they can be arrested. If the SAPS sees someone committing a crime or have cause to believe someone was involved, they can stop them.
How do police control the crowd? ›Before using force, the police have to give warning to the assembly that force will be used to disperse them. If the crowd refuses, then the police can resort to force for dispersal. The intensity and manner of force that will be used depends upon the circumstances.
What are the four responsibilities of the police? ›Police typically are responsible for maintaining public order and safety, enforcing the law, and preventing, detecting, and investigating criminal activities.
What do police officers use to communicate? ›In the field and on duty, two-radio radios keep officers communicating in the most challenging environments. Two-way radios are designed to be rugged and reliable, and to work when cell phones can't—even during emergencies, power outages, and when cell towers are overloaded.
What is a police Incident Response Unit? ›The job of the HART teams is to triage and treat casualties and to help save lives in very difficult circumstances. They are also there to look after other emergency personnel who may become injured whilst attending these difficult and challenging incidents.
Can you stop a protest? ›
Shutting down a protest through a dispersal order must be law enforcement's last resort. Police may not break up a gathering unless there is a clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic, or other immediate threat to public safety.
Can we protest without permission? ›Home Secretary, Union Of India & Ors. (2012), the Supreme Court stated, “Citizens have a fundamental right to assembly and peaceful protest which cannot be taken away by an arbitrary or executive or legislative action”.
Do we have a right to protest? ›The right to join with fellow citizens in protest or peaceful assembly is critical to a functioning democracy and at the core of the First Amendment. Unfortunately, law enforcement officials sometimes violate this right through means intended to thwart free public expression.