Answering to No-one

Those of you old enough to remember the late 70s will recall any civil disturbance in London was dealt with by the notorious SPG. The Special Patrol Group was synonymous with thuggery and oppressive violence until the Met disbanded it in 1986. They replaced it with the altogether more reasonably sounding TSG (Territorial Support Group) which still functions today. It would seem discipline in the TSG has deterioted steeply in recent years and now makes the old PSG look about as threatening as a group of Sea Scouts. In the last four years over 5,000 complaints have been lodged about TSG and yet only a pitiful nine have been upheld. That means 99.8% of complaints are dismissed.

It would seem not only are the TSG behaving like uniformed boot-boys but they are also acting effectively with impunity. Their recent behaviour during G20 demonstrations (pictured above) exposed their unneccessary brutal methods. But don't expect any officer to even face suspension. The TSG seemingly act as one to inhibit the work of the Independent Police Complaints Commission but the IPPC finds it almost impossible to discipline let alone prosecute any rogue copper. And ironically the IPPC is even less effective than the utterly discredited Police Complaints Authority which it replaced.

The Association of Chief Police Officers have an equally fundamental but more cerebral intolerance of any protest and have established a National Public Order Intelligence Unit and under it a National Domestic Extremist Team. This unit has set up databases of people, mostly without any conviction, in the expectation they may yet break the law through their, usually peaceful, protests. The ACPO lead, Assistant Chief Constable Anton Setchell, made a glib attempt to justify this massively disproportionate response. "Just because you have no criminal record does not mean you are not of interest to the police, " adding smugly, "everyone who has got a criminal record did not have one once." Given that Stalinist logic, we should almost feel nostalgic for the days when the Plod would say, "anyone who is innocent has nothing to worry about."

As police powers have been extended and accountability almost eradicated, even regional, rural forces feel they can act without restraint. Last month, officers from Avon and Somerset police arrived at a private house to arrest Robert Symonds, 20, for breaching bail conditions for a minor public order offence. Thirty or more officers were present to carry out this arrest during a birthday Bar-b-q - even though there were several children present, the police felt justified to use CS spray on several guests. Abbie Adams, 10, was hospitalised by the effects. When Robert Symonds' case came to court, all charges were dropped for lack of evidence.

I cannot say exactly why the police wished to persecute this family but their outrageous use of force and indiscriminate use of CS spray should not go unpunished. But we know - the police know - it certainly will.