While there was a notable absence of police on the September Critical Mass ride in London, we did have one unpleasant encounter with a very aggressive group of officers from the TSG unit.
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Travelling between Victoria Street and Buckingham Palace Road on Friday night, we ran into a van load of police dressed in overalls, fleeces and baseball caps. Their van was an odd silver grey colour and apparently was not equipped with a siren or flashing lights.
To compensate for their lack of adequate apparatus the officers, led by # SX 836, attempted to force their way through the mass by knocking riders to the ground, and dragging others to the side of the road and dumping them on the pavement.
At one point SX 836 encouraged drivers of other vehicles to ram the mass, telling them "Just drive at them, they'll get out of the way!" despite the fact that we were all in the middle of a traffic jam at the time. Another officer involved whose number I managed to note down was QA 232.
Photos::
http://18hz.deid.net/2008/septembermass/vikings03im.jpg
http://18hz.deid.net/2008/septembermass/vikings01im.jpg
Higher resolution versions of my photos can be fund at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29703759@N08/sets/72157607617808713/
To compensate for their lack of adequate apparatus the officers, led by # SX 836, attempted to force their way through the mass by knocking riders to the ground, and dragging others to the side of the road and dumping them on the pavement.
At one point SX 836 encouraged drivers of other vehicles to ram the mass, telling them "Just drive at them, they'll get out of the way!" despite the fact that we were all in the middle of a traffic jam at the time. Another officer involved whose number I managed to note down was QA 232.
Photos::
http://18hz.deid.net/2008/septembermass/vikings03im.jpg http://18hz.deid.net/2008/septembermass/vikings01im.jpg Higher resolution versions of my photos can be fund at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29703759@N08/sets/72157607617808713/ 
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