Policing protests: There has been significant attention over the past week on an incident in central London, and the subsequent responses to it by ourselves and others in which Gideon Falter, the Director of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), was prevented from crossing the direct path of a recent march where demonstrators were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The encounter with Mr Falter understandably drew criticism as in the process of explaining why officers were preventing him from stepping into the path of the march, a Sergeant used language, including the phrase “openly Jewish”, for which the Met has apologised. The incident was captured on video and circulated by the CAA and later a longer version, captured by Sky News, was published.
The Commissioner spoke to the Guardian newspaper about the incident, making it clear that the officer at the scene was correct to prevent Mr Falter and his party from coming into contact with the protestors but that we apologised for the language used. He said: “The sergeant at the scene clearly assessed that there was a risk of confrontation and was trying to help Mr Falter find a different route. I completely understand why the sergeant made this assessment. A couple of turns of phrase were clumsy and offensive … and we’ve apologised for that. The wider actions and intent of the officer were professional and in the best tradition of British police trying to prevent disorder.”
We remain focused on doing everything possible to ensure Jewish Londoners feel safe in this city and we know this event and some of our recent actions have contributed to concerns so it is crucial we listen to those feeling unsafe to go about their daily lives and take immediate action to address their concerns. Their experiences must continue to shape our plans.
Mr Falter has been invited to meet with senior Met officers to discuss what more police can do to ensure Jewish Londoners feel safe and earlier this week officers met representatives of London’s Jewish communities, to jointly take part in a planning session for the forthcoming march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and counter protests which are expected to take place on Saturday in central London. Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also spoke with senior representatives from the Jewish community in a number of meetings this week - including from the London Jewish Forum, Community Security Trust and Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Policing protest is complex and challenging, but we will do everything we can to constantly develop our approach, including seeking the support and insight of all voices who can help us to ensure the trust and confidence of all Londoners.
On Friday afternoon, Assistant Commissioner Matthew Twist briefed media about our approach to the coming weekend protest. He set the context that there had already been 12 national protests by the PSC in central London attracting between 300,000 and 5-10,000 more recently. The policing of these has cost around £38.5m and nearly 45,000 officer shifts. During these protests there have been 415 arrests, 193 for Antisemitic hate crimes and 15 for terrorism offences – mostly for showing support for Hamas.
He recognised the cumulative impact of these protests – particularly on Jewish communities, organisations and individuals. He also explained that the only situation in which the police could seek to ban a march was if there was a threat of very serious disorder – rioting or serious violence that could not be dealt with by other restrictions or conditions.
AC Twist was clear that the Met’s role is to prevent crime and keep the peace and that in the context of protest we seek to do this by keeping opposing groups apart using conditions and other legal powers. He was clear that is done without fear or favour and that we had previously prevented pro-Palestinian vehicle convoys driving through mainly Jewish parts of London.
AC Twist stated that we had placed conditions on the PSC March to follow a route from Parliament Square to Hyde park and for a counter protest by Enough if Enough group to remain in Pall Mall. Shortly before the briefing the CAA had informed the Met that their earlier plans for a number of counter protests had been cancelled. AC Twist encouraged anyone planning any demonstration to engage with police.
This weekend is expected to be a busy one and a significant operation will be in place to ensure people’s rights to protest can be exercised peacefully and safely. For the latest updates keep an eye on our news website and follow our Twitter/X account.
Public order policing was again in the spotlight on Tuesday afternoon when the Met had to deploy to Whitehall where a rally for St George’s day descended into violence resulting in six people being arrested. An area was allocated for this event in Richmond Terrace. A group of people went past it and continued up Whitehall. When officers formed a cordon and asked the group to turn round, they reacted by violently forcing their way through. Mounted officers intervened with horses to restore the cordon.
Charges for pro-Hamas posts: Our determination to pursue anyone suspected of breaking the law in their response to the ongoing situation in Gaza was highlighted by the recent charging of a women for a social media post as part of an investigation into online support of proscribed terrorist group Hamas. Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This investigation came as a result of members of the public referring social media content into our Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit. Any content referred gets carefully assessed and I hope this example shows that we take this extremely seriously and that we will take action if and where we identify potential terrorist or criminal activity.”
Stephen Lawrence day: Monday should have been a day where we focussed on remembering Stephen Lawrence, his legacy and the hugely positive impact the campaign by his family and others have had on improving the way police investigate murders and engage with communities. However, much of the media focus was understandably on a letter of apology the Commissioner sent to Baroness Lawrence for failing to keep her updated with our response to a BBC News report published late last year, that identified what they felt were new lines of inquiry into Stephen’s murder. Although we have not identified any additional viable lines of inquiry as a result of the BBC report, recognising the concerns held by Baroness Lawrence and the significance of this investigation we will be asking an outside force to review our approach.
Spying charges: Two men have been charged with offences under the Official Secrets Act for collecting or sharing information prejudicial to the safety and security of the UK and intended to be useful to the state of China. Commander Dominic Murphy said: "This has been an extremely complex investigation into what are very serious allegations. We've worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service as our investigation has progressed and this has led to the two men being charged today. We're aware there has been a degree of public and media interest in this case, but we would ask others to refrain from any further comment or speculation, so that the criminal justice process can now run its course."
And in a case linked to Russia, several people were charged in connection with an investigation into alleged offences under the National Security Act, as part of a Counter Terrorism Policing investigation. The charges are the first to be brought about under the new legislation that came into effect in December 2023. Commander Murphy said: “We have spoken publicly in recent times about various threats linked to national security that we have been facing, and the increase in operational activity required across Counter Terrorism Policing to meet these. While these are very serious allegations, I want to reassure the public that we do not believe there to be any wider threat to them in connection with this matter."
Britain’s Strongest Woman keeping London safe: The Met is made up of people from all sorts off backgrounds and with all sorts of interesting skills. One Met officer alongside her job also holds the title of Britain’s strongest woman and has smashed a Guinness World Record on children’s TV programme Blue Peter. PC Lucy Underdown was challenged to carry two presenters on a yoke, weighing more than 200kg, and pull it for 50m in under 90 seconds. The officer, who polices the London’s south east, not only pulled it in approximately 34 seconds, she pulled a car and bagged herself a Blue Peter badge. She said: “It’s a childhood dream to get a badge. I don’t normally talk about myself so going on Blue Peter was very surreal. I had so much fun.” PC Underdown recently met Arnold Schwarzenegger when she competed in the Arnold Classic in Ohio, USA, which saw thousands of people watch her take part in the gruelling challenges. She broke a world record, becoming the first woman in history to lift a 318kg bar and now has her sights set on beating this record at the end of the year.
Operational successes: Diligent and determined police work, to ensure London is safer for all our communities and victims see justice, is delivered by officers and staff every day. There have been a host of successful outcomes in recent days:
· The perpetrator of a violent homophobic attack, who was arrested by Met officers after a nationwide manhunt, has been jailed. In addition to the sentence, a five-year restraining order was imposed on the offender to protect the victim and he will be placed on licence upon release.
· Two brothers have been jailed for over 34 years having been found guilty of conspiracy to evade the prohibition on the importation of cocaine. Met officers pieced together their groups’ movements and disrupted their plan to bring dangerous drugs onto the streets of London.
· A man who headed up two drugs lines in north London and preyed on vulnerable drug users to distribute products on his behalf has been jailed after a ten-month proactive intelligence-led operation.
· A painstaking four-year investigation by Met officers has led to the conviction of four highly dangerous Hackney gang members. The men were jailed for a total of 76 years for a wide range of drug and firearms offences, including shootings in Hackney in 2020.
· A proactive team of Met officers raided an address finding six guns, ammunition and Class A and Class B drugs in multiple locations including children’s bedrooms leading to the the suspect being jailed for 18 years.
· A man has been jailed for five years after teamwork from Met and City of London Police officers at last year's Notting Hill Carnival led to them seizing a firearm in a bum-bag.
· A woman who was subjected to a sustained and violent assault has seen her attacker jailed for 28 years after being supported throughout the investigation by specially trained Met officers.
· A former school support worker from south London has been jailed for sex offences after a fast-paced investigation by the Met’s Child Abuse Investigation Team.
· A man has been jailed after detectives investigating a rape recognised similarities in an account given by another victim from the year before.
· A cold case investigation by Met officers has seen a man jailed for five years after he sexually assaulted a woman in the 1980s. Traces of DNA were found on her coat, but the the national DNA database was not in existence. Forensic officers held the coat in storage as a crucial part of evidence. Following advances in forensic technology, a DNA profile was developed from the retained samples and matched in 2019.
· And man arrested after forensics linked his DNA on a pair of gloves to an armed robbery in south-east London has been sentenced to six years and four months in prison.
We also saw widespread media coverage about a group of off duty Met officers who jumped into action to catch a thief whilst they were enjoying a break in Barcelona. Sergeant Emin, who is based in Enfield, London, said: "We were in a restaurant on the main strip, waiting for food to come, and he made his way over to the bar area where the counters are and then he jumped over the counter and that's when he caught our attention. He started to ransack the tills and take electrical goods such as the iPads and iPhones, whatever else was there, before he made his way around and then sprinted outside of the restaurant and instantly we stood up and gave chase."
I look forward to updating you further next week with more about our work to keep London safe and to transform the Met.
Central Engagement Team
