Hi - this may be interesting to those following the debates about
surveillance and protest. This is particularly relevant to
anti-globalisation protest because RTS have been one of the major groups in
the UK linking in with People's Global Action and 'third world' protest
against the extension of TNC / US power (which this article doesn't
mention).
(And it's from the Mirror!)
>
>>From the Mirror 29 Jan 1999
> POLICE SPY BID TO
> SMASH THE ANTI-CAR
> PROTESTERS
>
> AN anti-car group is being targeted by police who
> fear it plans to bring chaos to Britain's roads.
>
> Every police station in Britain has been circulated
> with photographs of Reclaim The Streets
> demonstrators in a bid to identify ringleaders.
>
> Police chiefs believe the organisation is plotting
> more protests aimed at bringing traffic to a
> standstill in major cities.
>
> A special squad - codenamed Operation Jellystone
> - has been set up to monitor the group.
>
> The centre of Birmingham was paralysed last year
> when 4,000 Reclaim The Streets supporters
> blocked a 500-yard stretch of road for five hours.
>
> Police, some in riot gear, made 35 arrests.
>
> Stills from a surveillance camera video of 30
> demonstrators wanted for questioning over the
> "large-scale public disorder" have been published
> in the Police Gazette.
>
> A Scotland Yard officer said: "There is a belief that
> as the millennium approaches organisations will
> become increasingly militant and take more
> aggressive action."
>
> But a Reclaim The Streets spokesman said: "It's
> outrageous for the police to pick on our
> organisation.
>
> "We peacefully protest and are not out-and-out
> criminals.
>
> "There have only been a few occasions when there
> has been a confrontation with the police.
>
> "That has only happened when we have been
> provoked by the police."
>
> A Special Branch document obtained by The Mirror
> admits it is almost impossible for police to monitor
> groups like Reclaim The Streets.
>
> It says: "Increasingly the environmentalists
> represent an impenetrable problem for
> conventional intelligence gathering.
>
> "The need for an enhancement in covert pro-active
> intelligence by police is clear."
>
> Bosses of firms involved in road projects could also
> find themselves target, the report warns.
>
> It says: "It's anticipated future protests will take the
> form of nuisance invasions of offices and
> installations such as those recently experienced by
> Shell, BP and Chevron as well as 'home visits' to
> company directors, a tactic copied from animal
> rights activists."
>
>
David.
David Wood
PhD Student ('The Rural Peace Dividend')
Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Tel: 0191 222 5305
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