19th – 24th August, Climate Camp targeted (principally) RBS in Edinburgh.
FIT officers were floating around throughout (my first encounter with them being at St Andrew’s Square in the city centre) but acting in a much more laid back manner than on so many previous occasions.

Both Scots and Met FIT officers were observed (between whom there seemed to be a certain rivalry) though generally absent their ubiquitous long lens cameras, these only seeming to be brandished when things started to become “interesting”.

Rather disturbingly they were all amazingly chatty… to an almost embarrassing extent. Clearly recognising me from many earlier encounters as a photographer/observer rather than one of the more confrontational fitwatchers they seemed almost determined to “buddy up” as it were, even posing for me to take pics occasionally!
In some sense this was hugely amusing and I found myself wondering whether they truly believed that I was so naive that I’d be fooled by this most recent tactic of theirs.

I must say though, it made a rather pleasant change to the sort of encounters I’ve come to expect. Though this new (although not entirely new, for lesser attempts in this direction have been observed before) “friendliness” didn’t prevent a couple of FIT officers from following a bus (in an unmarked vehicle) from the campsite into the city when a bunch of Greenwash Guerillas decided to visit a few RBS branches there.

In addition to FIT a number of Evidence Gatherers also put in an appearance, particularly on the couple of occasions when things started getting a bit tense at some of the Camp “gates”.

More info about FIT at the Scotland Climate Camp here.

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PRESS RELEASE from
London NoBorders
23 July, 2010

Forward Intelligence Team was not authorised to monitor NoBorders Meeting.
Protestors acquitted in Crown Court.

London NoBorders welcomes the Crown Court decision to clear three activists of the charges of “obstructing the police”. The Inner London Crown Court ruled that police surveillance of a public political meeting had not been proved to be lawful and that the police had failed to provide any evidence that they were pursuing a “legitimate aim”.

Three activists were arrested at the meeting called by London NoBorders in June 2008 when they protested against the surveillance of the meeting by the Metropolitan Police’s “Forward Intelligence Team.”

The aim of the public meeting, which took place in a community centre in Southwark, London, was to discuss a demonstration which later took place at the UK Border Agency in Croydon in July 2008. The Metropolitan Police turned up at both public meetings in June 2008, taking photos and filming everybody who attended the meeting.

Thomas Haberg of London NoBorders said: “The fact that the police could not show that their surveillance was authorised in any way is worrying and shows that the Forward Intelligence Team appears to work outside the law. The purpose of the police presence was clearly to intimidate and keep people from organising around political issues.
It also shows that it is important for the future to continue to challenge the Forward Intelligence Team wherever they turn up.”

Therefore London NoBorders welcomes campaigns like FitWatch. “We should not be watched, it is the activities of the police we should have an eye on”, added Rosie Young from London NoBorders.

During the trial one witness involved in London NoBorders, who had been followed by police armed with cameras around the area before the meeting, was asked by the prosecution if “he did not think that he is exactly the kind of person the state should be watching?”. It appears that the mere fact that London NoBorders disagrees with the UK immigration politics makes them and their supporters a target for close surveillance by the police. The prosecution also asked the witness, who stated that he felt intimidated by the police presence: “Why don’t you stay at home when you are concerned about being filmed?”

London NoBorders believes that the issues of increasing surveillance in this society are connected to the militarisation of the national borders, and organised a demonstration around those issues titled “Life is too short to be controlled!” in January 2010. Another demonstration with this title is planned for 30th October 2010.

London NoBorders is a group campaigning for freedom of movement and active in London for more then 6 years. We see ourselves as part of a transnational European wide network.

london.noborders.org.uk
contact: noborderslondon(at)riseup.net

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In the context of three fitwatchers pursuing legal action against Kingsnorth cops, this last weekend’s news of a High Court judgement that police had acted unlawfully in their blanket stops & searches conducted under Section 1 of PACE at Kingsnorth is particularly encouraging, and underlines the importance of monitoring cop activities as fitwatchers have been doing.

The following refers, reproduced from the principal fitwatch blog:

Climate protestors [sic] this weekend won a major High Court victory against the unlawful police stop and search operation used against protesters at their camp in Kingsnorth, Kent in August 2008.

It had been the largest and most expensive such operation in UK history involving 26 police forces. Led by Kent police, these forces carried out a continuous, systematic and unlawful mass stop and search regime.

In the High Court the police accepted an Order that the searches of the three claimants had been ‘unlawful’, and constituted a violation of their human rights to privacy (breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights), to freedom of expression (breach of Article 10) and freedom of association (breach of Article 11).

Climate camp legal team have suggested that the 3,500 other searches carried under the same search laws (s1 PACE) would also have been unlawful.. All those searched under such laws can now sue the police and submit claims for damages. Those affected should log on to the climate camp website http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/ to see how to proceed with a claim.

The legal team claim that this case was won despite police efforts to deny there was any systematic stop and search policy. Their ludicrous position collapsed after a key ‘smoking gun’ document came to light revealing that the police ‘bronze commanders’ in charge of the operation at Kingsnorth were systematically giving briefings for blanket stop and searches.

Three FITwatch defendants who were arrested and imprisoned for four days for photographing the stop and search operation at Kingsnorth are also persuing [sic] legal action.

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Brighton, 18th January 2010, and the “Remember Gaza” demonstration, attended by protesters of the local smashEDO campaign. And others of course.

There didn’t appear to be a huge presence of FIT, although inevitably Evidence Gatherers were… er… much in evidence.

Interestingly, the FIT that were there were minus their now notorious blue yokes on their yellow hiviz. Nevertheless a few familiar faces were instantly recognised, so of course some photos just had to be taken.

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Three days of actions in London by Disarm DSEi and other anti-arms trade protesters, starting with a tour of the “attractions” in the city (on Tuesday 8th September) and culminating with a protest at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel where arms dealers were having dinner. And, particularly with the latter event, FIT were crawling all over everywhere… but I spotted only two FIT photographers! Wow.

Another fitwatcher has done a write-up of the “city tour” on the main fitwatch blog.

FIT pix from all three days…

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