Protest policing is theme of biggest ever exercise at MDP HQ
23 Sep 09
More than 300 police officers from ten different forces were recently involved in the largest public order exercise ever to have taken place at the MDP's headquarters in Wethersfield, Essex. Report by Steve Partridge.
Ten different Police Forces were involved in a public order exercise hosted by the Ministry of Defence Police
[Picture: Paul Kemp, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
It was the first time that the Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) had been asked to host the exercise which is held annually by the members of the Eastern Region Public Order Working Group which consists of Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and the MDP.
For the last four years the training event has been held at RAF Alconbury and hosted by Cambridgeshire Constabulary. But the headquarters of the MDP, with its ample space and married quarters providing a ready-made and realistic backdrop, proved to be the perfect choice for Exercise Iceni 5.
Chief Inspector Chris Yates, of the Operational Support Unit (South), said:
"Each year a planning team with representatives from each force identifies and agrees a topical theme for the exercise and venue for the exercise to take place.
"This year the theme was based around climate change and the associated protest activity. The fundamental objectives of the event were to test and evaluate the interoperability of common public order tactics between forces and to test the resilience of the command structure and of individual commanders."
The City of London Police Horse Unit gets to grips with 'protesters' during the exercise hosted by the Ministry of Defence Police
[Picture: Paul Kemp, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
Every participating force from the Eastern Region supplied one Police Support Unit (PSU), each consisting of 29 officers. In addition to these officers, Northamptonshire Police, Nottinghamshire Police and the City of London Police Horse Unit also took part.
The role of the 150 protesters for the event was taken by MDP recruits from the Agency Training College, staff at the MOD Police and Guarding Agency Headquarters, and further education students from Essex.
Chief Inspector Yates said:
"The exercise was structured to move through various stages of tension in the 'community' to a full scale riot which included the throwing of missiles and petrol bombs. This latter element was controlled and orchestrated by trained police staff.
"The whole scenario was played out over almost five hours and had two distinct phases, with the nominated command teams rotating through each phase. Each command team was also expected to interact with the media as they would do in a real-time situation."
Petrol bombs are thrown during 'a full scale riot'
[Picture: Paul Kemp, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
The exercise began with a protest march involving around 100 protesters who had congregated at a 'bus station' - in reality the hard-standing next to the main HQ stores building.
The group then marched up the road and headed down to the base exit gate by the Agency Training College.
This gate represented an entranceway to 'Wethersfield Airport' and protesters massed here before some staged a sit-in across the road, using locking devices to chain themselves together and help create an obstruction. At the same time, a tripod was erected at another crossroads to further complicate matters.
Whilst officers were dealing with these issues reports were then received of an incursion from outside Wethersfield Airport onto the airfield after protesters 'cut their way through' the fence line.
Protesters again 'locked on' once they were on the airfield whilst others attempted to evade capture when police arrived. A further contingent of 30 to 40 protesters was also outside the fence line when officers arrived and attempted to breach the police cordon when it was established.
The media report on the 'riot'
[Picture: Paul Kemp, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
At the same time that these issues were developing, intelligence was also received that some ringleaders were intending to cause more serious disorder and had a stockpile of petrol bombs at an address in Cannon Circle.
A specialist team then had to execute a search warrant at the house which involved forcing entry and then arresting several individuals.
Word of this raid and the arrests of the protest leaders then filtered through to protesters, causing public disorder to escalate. Offenders intent on causing trouble then infiltrated two areas of the airfield and used petrol bombs against the PSUs.
To further complicate issues the entire exercise was followed by a team of journalists, camera operators and photographers who were briefed to get in amongst the action and approach both sides for interviews.
Individual officers and Bronze Commanders were faced with well-equipped camera crews and radio journalists, asking for their reactions or comments as they were dealing with the unfolding scenario - increasing the pressure on them.
The media were able to get interviews and reactions from demonstrators, protest leaders and members of the public in order to comment on the police activity in 'real-time' which also added to the level of scrutiny experienced by senior officers during media interviews. Chief Inspector Yates said:
A senior officer interacts with the media
[Picture: Paul Kemp, Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
"The exercise was very demanding and certainly put everyone involved through some very tough tests. It was designed to stretch the police response and as such it had to examine the most extreme public order situations that officers could face.
"Although I think it should be pointed out that the exercise theme was used to give direction and narrative and in no way suggests that all the scenarios tested are going to occur at any real-life protest connected to this issue."
A full debrief on Exercise Iceni 5 has yet to be carried out but Chief Inspector Yates said that initial feedback had been very positive and some important learning points were already emerging:
"We had two Assistant Chief Constables from Northumbria and Essex at the exercise and they have both said that it was very good and considerably better than most, if not all, they have been to.
"The enhanced media element certainly went well with reporters and camera operators saying that they were treated fairly, courteously and professionally and that there was a general feeling that officers recognised that the media had a job to do."
This article is taken from the August 2009 edition of Talk Through - The Magazine of the Ministry of Defence Police.