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Stewards and Legal Observers
Whatever the nature of the action, an efficient stewarding operation avoids many of the interactions between protesters and police that have the potential for conflict.
Stewards should be briefed prior to the protest on what exactly they should be doing, and whom they should report to in the event of difficulty. They are part of the organisation of the event and should be identifiable as such both to police and protesters by bibs, armbands, special T-shirts or badges (but obviously not a quasi-military uniform). At a march, for example, they should have a map of the proposed route and the telephone number of an organisation room, if you have one (see below – Organisation Room).
Some organisations have ad hoc groups of legal observers who are prepared to attend demonstrations of any size and make an independent note of numbers and movements of police and protesters. In the event of arrests, they will make immediate notes of witnesses' names and addresses.
Observers can be a great help if events turn sour, but in any case their presence at a demonstration can be reassuring to protesters and police alike. It is important that they perceive themselves to be independent of the protest itself and its organisation. They may, therefore, wish to be identified in a way that distinguishes them from other people on the march, including stewards, for example by special badges, armbands or bibs.
Often law students or lecturers from local colleges are prepared to provide this service if given enough notice. Inexperienced legal observers should be briefed by a solicitor, preferably in good time before the protest (see Legal Cover).
Stewards and legal observers should know where to meet immediately after the event for a debriefing when any feedback or information they have - for example, notes from legal observers - can be retrieved. They should also be available to come to a defendants' meeting if one becomes necessary (see Defendants’ Meeting).
Whether you predict there might be trouble or not, it can do no harm to pencil in such a meeting to take place two or three days after the event. Arranging such a meeting provides a safety net that will enable you to begin to draw all your resources together should there ever be a defendants' group that needs to rely on them.
Organisation Room
On the day of the event itself there ought to be a reference point away from the demonstration - a union office, for example - with a telephone number, fixed or mobile, which might be circulated widely on a leaflet that arrested people will be likely to have with them when in the police station.
This will also be the number used by stewards or legal observers if they want to contact the organisation room during the event itself. Other available phones can be used for outgoing calls - to the police station, to the standby lawyer or perhaps to the press.
Stewards should be briefed prior to the protest on what exactly they should be doing, and whom they should report to in the event of difficulty. They are part of the organisation of the event and should be identifiable as such both to police and protesters by bibs, armbands, special T-shirts or badges (but obviously not a quasi-military uniform). At a march, for example, they should have a map of the proposed route and the telephone number of an organisation room, if you have one (see below – Organisation Room).
Some organisations have ad hoc groups of legal observers who are prepared to attend demonstrations of any size and make an independent note of numbers and movements of police and protesters. In the event of arrests, they will make immediate notes of witnesses' names and addresses.
Observers can be a great help if events turn sour, but in any case their presence at a demonstration can be reassuring to protesters and police alike. It is important that they perceive themselves to be independent of the protest itself and its organisation. They may, therefore, wish to be identified in a way that distinguishes them from other people on the march, including stewards, for example by special badges, armbands or bibs.
Often law students or lecturers from local colleges are prepared to provide this service if given enough notice. Inexperienced legal observers should be briefed by a solicitor, preferably in good time before the protest (see Legal Cover).
Stewards and legal observers should know where to meet immediately after the event for a debriefing when any feedback or information they have - for example, notes from legal observers - can be retrieved. They should also be available to come to a defendants' meeting if one becomes necessary (see Defendants’ Meeting).
Whether you predict there might be trouble or not, it can do no harm to pencil in such a meeting to take place two or three days after the event. Arranging such a meeting provides a safety net that will enable you to begin to draw all your resources together should there ever be a defendants' group that needs to rely on them.
Organisation Room
On the day of the event itself there ought to be a reference point away from the demonstration - a union office, for example - with a telephone number, fixed or mobile, which might be circulated widely on a leaflet that arrested people will be likely to have with them when in the police station.
This will also be the number used by stewards or legal observers if they want to contact the organisation room during the event itself. Other available phones can be used for outgoing calls - to the police station, to the standby lawyer or perhaps to the press.
