Surviving public order situations

Manchester Earth First!

Bear in mind that the police are probably much better equipped and trained for close combat than you or we. They have been psyching themselves up for hours, are likely to have plenty of reserves standing by, and usually feel confident with the law behind them. Beating the police is about outwitting them, not necessarily hitting them over the head.
In Britain the Public Order Manual of Tactical Operations and Related Matters provides the police with clear instructionsfor dealing with situations where public order is threatened. This manual hasnever been made public, has no legal standing and was never discussed by Par-liament. It basically gives the police guidance in the use of pre-emptive acts ofviolence, to achieve the following:

To break the crowd up into manage-able portions, keep them moving then eventually disperse them.
To provoke violence as a way of justifying their actions and flushing out any ringleaders.
To contain the crowd and stop thetrouble spreading.
To intimidate and break the spirit ofthe crowd.
To gather evidence for later.

The manual contains details of tactics which include the use of snatch squads,baton charges and the use of horses to disperse and intimidate large crowds. Makeno mistake — the cops will be prepared to do whatever it takes to ensure that ouractions and protests are ineffective.

Ensuring our actions are effective

Don't be tempted to stand around and fight — get to where you can cause disruption without the police around.

Keep moving, as a group and individu-ally. Fill gaps. Never stand still — chaos puts the police off.
Nip police attempts to form lines ordivide the crowd in the bud.
Don't be intimidated.
Do everything in small teams, preparein advance.
Think defensively. Protect each otherand escape routes.
Always face outwards, ie away from usand towards them.
Link arms as often as possible, formbarriers, use your body.
Move quickly and calmly, never givingthe police time to react.

Preparations

Staying out of jail and hospital need not be hard work. Most people caught up inriots manage it. But with a bit of forethought you can turn surviving a publicorder situation into a living order situation!

Aims

No one really "wins" at the end of the day, but that doesn't matter. What mat-ters is that you are unhurt, still free and some egg is still stuck to the face of youroriginal target after the police have been and gone.
With all that in mind, we suggest you stick to these three basic aims if you findyourself in a riot: l Get you and your mates away safely,rather than fighting. l Find a place to cause embarrassmentand economic damage to your real target, rather than fighting. l Help others in trouble by administer-ing first aid and de-arresting, rather than fighting.

Police choreography

With any crowd the police will be looking to break it up as soon as possible.Crowd dispersal is achieved with baton charges, horse charges and sometimes CSgas and vehicles. Some particularly nasty or out-of-control units may pile straightinto the crowd, but there is usually a gap between the time they arrive and the startof the dispersal. This stalling time is often just dithering by the commandingofficer, or psyching/tooling up time for the troops (the latter is easy to spot). Thisaside, there are three more reasons why they aren't wading straight in, see if youcan spot them next time you're waiting for "kick-off":

They haven't worked out where they'regoing to disperse you to.
They want to gather more evidence orflush out more ring-leaders. This involves keeping you right where they can see youand provoking you like hell. They will film you and photograph you and sendout snatch squads to pick off individuals.
They are waiting for back up becauseyou outnumber them or are in danger of gaining the upper hand.

The dance steps

OK, so they've stopped fucking around and now it's time to send you home, witha great story to tell your friends (let's face it, they won't see the truth on the news).The bulk of the action is shocking in its predictability. The following will berepeated over and over, in different combinations, until they win or get bored:

Officers in lines will pen you in (preferably on the pavement).
Officers in lines will push into a crowd to divide it in half.
Batons/horses/CS spray attack penned in crowds to lower morale.
Charges that slowly push you down astreet (rush of cops> fall back> strengthen line> repeat).
Crowds throwing missiles will be "put to flight", as it's harder to throw stuff if you are running.
Shift changes. (Often look for thearrival of reinforcements. It is important to try and spot the difference for reasonsof morale, and that they are vulnerable during shift changes.)

Most of the above require the individual officers to be in tight lines, so it'simportant to stop those lines forming. Unfortunately we are quite bad at this.The first line drawn is the most crucial and most people don't see it coming. Thepolice will try and form lines right in amongst you if they can, thus weakeningyour position at the same time as strengthening theirs. Line dancingIf the crowd seems volatile, the police will hold right back and the first linedrawn will be some distance away. But if you are all hanging around looking con-fused and passive they will sneak right in amongst you and the first lines will bedividing lines. This is how it works: The first divide the crowd up into"actors" and "viewers". Small groups of officers will move into the crowd andstart politely encouraging the timid ones onto the pavement. Once the crowd startsmoving the way they want, those little groups of cops will get bigger and startjoining up. Before you know it, there are two crowds on two pavements with twolines of cops penning them in. Let the head cracking commence. Or...

Don't stand and watch them.
Don't look like you'll let them getanywhere near you.
Spot gaps in the crowd and fill them.
Work out which space they want totake and get there with your mates first.
Get long tarpaulin banners to the frontto stop them advancing and filming.
Protect your escape routes by standingin them.
Get those who have turned into specta-tors off the pavements, back in the crowd and moving around.

Of course, now having resisted being split up and penned in, they may just letfly with the baton charge. But at least you're now in a stronger position to dealwith it and escape. Whatever happens next, don't just stand there waiting for it.If you've managed to get their line drawn far away, you've bought valuable time and space — so use it! Even if their line isright up against you, they still haven't broken down your numbers.
However, it's only a matter of time before the police try to get closer/breakyou up again. Use the time to get out of there slowly and in one block, this is thelast thing they want — a large mob moving around freely. Whatever you do,don't stand there waiting for them to try again. You are now in control to go anddo whatever you want, so do it. If they have blocked your only exit, try...

Counter advancing

This involves moving your lines forward into theirs, thus gaining more space andopening up more exits. Use the front line as a solid wall, linking arms and movingslowly forward. Use the long banner like a snowplough (this stops them grabbingyou or breaking the line; they can still hit you with truncheons though). If there'senough of you "WOMBLED up", your protective clothing will make that get-away that much safer and easier.

Snow plough

A line of crowd-control barriers can also be carried by the front line like a snow-plough to break into the police ranks. The front of the "plough" can then beopened once their line is breached and the barriers pushed to the side to contain thecops. This all needs a lot of co-ordination and balls/clit; the advantage gained willnot last long, so push all your ranks forward through the gap straight away. Using your bodyYour body is your best and most adaptable tool. It is best used in concert withothers. For instance it could take a long time for twenty to scale a wall, but standtwo people against the wall, bowed together with their arms locked andyou've got a set of human steps! (Those waiting to climb can link arms aroundthe steps to protect them.) Always look for ways to use your body to escape.

Reforming

Keep looking for ways of increasing your numbers, by joining up with other groupsand absorbing stragglers. Everyone has to get out and you'll stand a better chance ofgetting out unharmed, with all your belongings and equipment, if you leavetogether at the same time.

Defending

If you aren't doing anything else you should always be defending.
Whether that means securing a building, strengthening your position on thestreet, barricading or protecting others.

Note Read the whole, unedited version of this guide at http://www.schnews.org.uk/diyguide /guidetopublicordersituations.htm
This guide is an ongoing project. Please send your comments and additions for the next version, to "Public Order Guide" c/o Manchester Earth First!, Dept 29, 255 Wilmslow Road, Manchester M14 5LW, Britain.