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| Police 'must not hide ID numbers' | |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| It is "utterly unacceptable" for police officers to hide their identifying badges from the public, the in-coming Chief Inspector of Police has said. | |
| Ex-senior Met officer Denis O'Connor, who is heading a probe into the policing of the G20 protests, said the police had to be "accountable". | Ex-senior Met officer Denis O'Connor, who is heading a probe into the policing of the G20 protests, said the police had to be "accountable". |
| "It is utterly unacceptable and that is that," he told the House of Commons home affairs committee. | "It is utterly unacceptable and that is that," he told the House of Commons home affairs committee. |
| Mr O'Connor will be looking into three cases of alleged G20 police brutality. | Mr O'Connor will be looking into three cases of alleged G20 police brutality. |
| He will examine the death of newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson, as well as the tactics officers employed on the day such as the "kettling" of protesters, which sees them confined to a specific area for hours at a time. | |
| Name badges | |
| He said he wanted to look at the whole picture of what happened, not just the "snapshots" seen in the media but he said he was starting with the "pre-conception" that officers should display their numerals at all times. | |
| Constables and sergeants are required to display their numbers but senior ranks are not. | |
| Some police officer removed theirs before the G20 protest because they were worried about false accusations being made against them and being filmed or photographed, but Mr O'Connor said he did not accept those arguments. | |
| And he said his probe would look at whether all officers should be forced to wear name badges, which are currently not compulsory. | |
| Mr O'Connor will also look at the widely differing tactics used by police forces in dealing with public order situations, from climate camp protests and G20 to the lighter touch displayed by the Metropolitan Police in containing the protest by Tamils in Parliament Square. | |
| He said there had been no advance intelligence on violent protests ahead of the Tamil demonstration. | |
| On the G20 protest, said the incident in which an officer slapped Nicola Fisher and hit her with his baton was "unacceptable" adding: "What I saw did not impress me that it's the British way." | |
| Mr O'Connor is Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's preferred candidate to be the next Chief Inspector of Constabulary, although his appointment has to be confirmed by the home affairs committee. | |
| His interim report is due by end of June, with the final report to be published in September. |