How many cops to arrest climate chaos? Mass policing of protests at COP26

Hugo Gorringe*, Michael Rosie, Stephen Reicher, Jen Portice, Selin Tekin, Michael Hamilton

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

In advance of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) summit in Glasgow in 2021, Police Scotland insisted that human rights and facilitation would be central to their operation. When the event passed off peacefully, without any of the mass arrests and disorder seen at previous iterations of COP, the Police declared it a huge success. We draw on research with activists and officers to scrutinize this claim and analyse the policing of COP26. Literature on protest policing suggests that global summits are distinctive, because the interplay between the security of Heads of state and other dignitaries, the local community and protestors is heavily biased in favour of security at such events. We suggest that this remains the case, despite the police emphasis on facilitation. We conclude that the ‘human-rights based approach’ to policing is poorly defined and unevenly implemented and means different things to police and protestors. A fundamental rethinking of existing approaches and priorities is required for it to be meaningful.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-17
Number of pages17
JournalPolicing and Society
Early online date4 May 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 4 May 2024

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • COP26
  • protest
  • policing
  • human rights
  • facilitation

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