We Will Facilitate your Protest: Experiments with Liaison Policing

This article explores innovations in public order policing during Edinburghs Nato Parliamentary Assembly protests of 2009. When masked anarchist protesters gathered to Smash Nato, they were met by three plainclothes police negotiators rather than a line of public order officers. This article reflects on their attempts to interact with protestors and minimize disorder while facilitating lawful protest. We welcome the shift in attitudes and approach towards political protest, and draw on our observation of Nato and the 2010 Climate Camp to consider the efficacy of liaison policing tactics and the lessons to be learned.