PUBLIC MEETING in EASTON
7.30pm Wednesday 1st Sept @
Bristol YHA, 14 Narrow Quay, BS1 4QA

Speaker: Jonny Jones
No police officers are to be charged over the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson at last year’s G20 protests in the City of London. This is despite video footage clearly showing PC Simon Harwood with his identification numbers covered and a scarf covering his face as he struck Ian from behind with a baton. Ian died soon afterwards.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) reported its decision on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of another innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes, at Stockwell tube station in 2005.

Ian Tomlinson is the latest in a long line of people killed by the police on the streets of London, and police violence has been seen time and again as riot squads attacked miners, printers, anti poll tax demonstrators, anti-fascists and travellers.

Furthermore, since 1971 there have been more than 1,000 deaths in police custody. Not one police officer has ever been successfully prosecuted as a result.

In the light of such facts, this meeting will consider what really is the role of the police. Do they actually protect us from the crime which seems to blight so many people's lives? Can they and the State in general been seen as essentially neutral institutions in relation to the rest of society, concerned equally with every 'law-abiding citizen's' well-being?

What are the alternatives to the police?

Come along and join in the discussion.