myAIPMPolice Powers and Public Assemblies: Learning from the Clapham Common ‘Vigil’ during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Clifford Stott, Matt Radburn, Geoff Pearson, Arabella Kyprianides, Mark Harrison, David Rowlands | Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice
The policing of peaceful public assembly during the Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the most central challenges to police legitimacy. This is arguably because mass gatherings are assumed to carry a high risk of contagion yet, at the same time, peaceful public assembly is a protected human right. The article investigates the case study of the public assembly that took place on Clapham Common in March 2021 in London, England. The article discusses the policing of new emergency powers that were introduced during COVID-19 together with the use of 4E’s; Engage in conversation, Explain the importance, Encourage people to comply and failing this Enforce through issuing fines, making arrests or using force. The authors then discuss police legitimacy as central to understanding crowd behaviour and to what level people will resist or comply by self-regulating in a public assembly.
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Stott, C., Radburn, M., Pearson, G., Kyprianides, A,. Harrison, M., & Rowlands, D. (2021) Police Powers and Public Assemblies: Learning from the Clapham Common ‘Vigil’ during the Covid-19 Pandemic, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice https://academic.oup.com/policing/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/police/paab060/40809273/paab060.pdf