Following the use of bluetooth by police forces around the country in awareness raising schemes, the Met Police intend to encourage protesters to activate bluetooth on their mobile phones at the TUC March for the Alternatives demonstration in London on March 26th. This will allow the MET police to broadcast messages direct to marchers mobile phones. For background see astracasting.com

Alternatively protesters can text the police from their own mobile phones to opt into an info service where the police will text them updates. The same text service has been advertised to businesses in central london and to local residents.

Any protesters caught up in police kettling of the crowds can also rest easy, assured that the police will use their Co11Metpolice twitter account to communicate with them, along with dot matrix sign displays.

These new tactics from the MET police come after criticism following the G20 demonstrations, Climate Camps and the more recent student protests, and a series of reviews:

Policing Public Order
An overview and review of progress against the recommendations of Adapting to Protest and Nurturing the British Model of Policing

An Extract:

Tactical adaptability

In the spirit of adaptability, a number of questions require urgent consideration.

These include:

• How can police participate effectively in and utilise social media to assist in maintaining the peace?
• How can police best prevent crime and disorder through:
- early interventions to disrupt those demonstrating clear criminal intent?
- target hardening the protest environment to reduce opportunities to attack or damage identified or treasured sites: for example can the reliance on the ‘human shield' provided by police officers be supplemented by better physical barriers to access?
• How can the tactic of containment be refined, progressively isolating problematic groups and individuals from peaceful protestors?
• How can more problematic groups and individuals be progressively isolated from peaceful protestors during containment?
• How can the peaceful or vulnerable be filtered away effectively from possible disorder?
• How can police communicate more effectively with different groups within the crowd using modern communication mechanisms?
• How can overt criminality in crowds be intercepted in an agile manner to protect the public as well as our precious buildings and iconic structures?
• Is the present command communication model sufficiently responsive in fastmoving and complex situations, and could a more devolved command allow officers to act with greater speed?
• How can the availability of accurate information be improved before, during and after events to enable protestors and the public to make informed decisions?
- Is there value in making the experiences of officers in the front line at these events available to the public?

Speaking yesterday at a press briefing jointly held by the TUC, Metropolitan Police and Liberty Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens said:

"As you have heard the Metropolitan Police Service has been preparing for the March for the Alternative, with the TUC for some time. They are experienced organizers of these events, and we have continued to have a positive relationship with them, enabling us to develop a plan to facilitate their peaceful protest. 

"We have structured our policing response to meet the needs of all those in London on Saturday, those taking part in the march and those going about business as usual. 

"We police over 4,500 events yearly, however we consistently review and refine our practices. As such we have built upon and implemented some practices including our communications ability. One of the things that people who attended the protests at the back end of last year have said to us is that they didn't know what was going on or how to get information. I would urge people intending to be in London this Saturday to check our and the TUC website's in advance. If they are intending to take part in the protest they may like to follow events on twitter or sign up to our text service to receive live updates

"It is important that we appropriately set the mood for this day. The TUC are planning for a family friendly peaceful protest and we will do all we can to facilitate this.

"However, we would be naïve to ignore the chatter on some public forums and of course we have to plan for separate autonomous groups who choose not to be part of the TUC protest. I must stress that strong views can never legitimize violence and, whilst we are planning for a peaceful day, we will not hesitate to respond speedily to any criminal and violent behaviour. The public would expect this.

"We are rightly scrutinized in our response to these large scale occasions and as part of our commitment to openness and accountability we have asked Liberty to act as independent observers in the pre planning of the event and on the day, both in Special Operations Room and out on the ground.

"On the day itself, I would encourage those attending to speak with the stewards and my officers who are there to ensure that the day is successful and that people stay safe.

"The command structure in place is Gold Commander Simon Bray, Silver Ch Supt Adrian Roberts, and media spokesperson from now onwards in relation to the March for the Alternative is Commander Bob Broadhurst. 

"Our hope is that people will come to protest peacefully. We have been monitoring open forums and sources, as you would expect. If there is violence the people of London would expect us to react speedily and robustly.

If the use of force becomes necessary, we will use the minimum force required in the circumstances to achieve our lawful objective of keeping London, its residents, visitors and iconic buildings safe, but we must be flexible enough to respond quickly. 

"Containment will be very much a tactic of last resort. If it does become necessary, again we have responded to feedback, and now have a dedicated Chief Inspector to ensure the swift dispersal of innocent and vulnerable people and to ensure the needs of those contained are considered. We will communicate with those inside the containment via Twitter, as well as face to face communications with officers at the scene." 

The MPS Twitter account @CO11MetPolice will be running for fast time communication updating information about the march, and responding to enquiries as appropriate. 

Leaflets will be handed out on the day of the march, and we will make use of matrix signs on the route.

Our website has a dedicated page re the march and will be updated with information, including the route of the march, road closures and questions and answers on what to expect on the day. 

We have launched a texting service; to register text the word police to 83123, for updates throughout the 26th March. We will be making use of Bluetooth technology, please switch yours on. Officers have already been out meeting and speaking with businesses and local communities affected by the route on the 26th.