In the Venn diagram of policing and politics, it’s often the Met Police commissioner who gets trapped in the middle.
And so once again, Sir Mark Rowley is being pushed and pulled between the public order decisions made by his officers on the ground and the extensive public and political examination that follows.
In the case of the high-profile interaction between Gideon Falter of the Campaign Against Antisemitism and an officer policing the pro-Palestinian march in London last Saturday, the best vantage point we have is the footage filmed by a Sky News camera crew at the demonstration.
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The footage shows a lengthy and bad-tempered discussion, with the officer accusing Mr Falter of purposefully leaving the pavement and walking on the road against the flow of protesters.
“You are looking to try and antagonise… I can already see what your mindset is,” the officer says at one point.
Mr Falter disagrees, saying he is simply trying to cross the road and “get out of here”.
The officer replies that if that’s the case, he’s happy to escort him and his group safely around the march.
However, Mr Falter asks: “Why can’t I just walk where I want to walk?”, before adding “the Metropolitan Police says these marches are completely safe for Jews… you’re telling me… I have to be escorted by you.”
This is really the key point.
The officer has clearly decided the best way to reduce the chance of public disorder and keep everyone safe is for Mr Falter and his group to make a diversion around the march.
Further sections of the Sky News footage show why this calculation was likely made.
Some pro-Palestinian demonstrators are clearly heard aggressively shouting “baby killer” and “scum” towards the group.
Given this, it’s clearly uncomfortable that those who…
