POLICE, CAMERA, ACTION, amazing police patrol boat @ G8 Protest

The second video included the patrol vessel colliding with the protesters and the latter being thrown out of their boat ...

Prior to that the they were on a parallel course which the protesters then pulled out of and sped off again ... TBH, my view is that they have made their protest by being there and causing the patrols to intercept them, to then avoid restraint and attempt to break through a security line is IMO foolhardy at best.
I don't know if the patrol that hit them had armed officers on board or not (I would assume so) so the protesters don't have a leg to stand on (or lifejacket to swim in?) and were lucky that it was not brought to a stop with gunfire.

As much as I detest T B Liar and other "World Leaders" for being lieing scumbags I do believe they have the right to do what they are supposedly there for and require that sort of protection.

Would the comments be the same if that was a Terrorist Rib with weaponry onboard? The right to freedom of speech is an important one, but there do have to be reasonable limits as to where it can take place.
 
Came across this pic on the Guardian website:

boats372ready.jpg
 
I think even with a great deal of skill by the helmsman, it was luck that stopped one or more of the protesters being killed or badly injured (In the 1st clip).

We have no idea what the level of threat was from these ribs- if they were simple protesters then the reaction was over the top. If they had more significant aims then the reaction was completely justified.

9/11 has changed the way security services react the world over. I think the protesters were stupid to attempt to carry on after they were warned.


Mark
 
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As much as I detest T B Liar and other "World Leaders" for being lieing scumbags I do believe they have the right to do what they are supposedly there for and require that sort of protection.

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So, what were the protesters going to do, land on the beach and run over soft sand into the hands of the shorebased plods?

I am not a big fan of the use of maximum force to stop legitmate - even misguided - protest. I cite the inhuman battering the hunt suporters got and the illegal covering up by the Met of the protests against the Chinese president. If politicians want to put themselves on the world stage by their own violition, then then should put up with the legitimate protests this brings.

If the G8 leaders were actually on board a boat, then the actions of the German police would be justified, but as they were some distance inshore, it was a dangerous and unwarranted enforcement stunt.
 
I tend to agree Nautical. At least the police were trying to stop them on the water rather than taking the easy option of using more destructive force. In a post 9/11 world the protestors were loons to put their lives at such risk. The police are dammed either way for not acting or being heavy handed - there is no easy answer as to how to handle such protests safely. The 2nd clip was truly scary but thank God the rib crew were not killed nor badly injured. They were lucky this meeting was not being held in trigger happy US waters /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Methinks the reaction could have been very different.
 
But what makes you assume it was a dangerous situation?, its four blokes hair @rsing around in a rubber boat surrounded by patrol boats and helicopter gunships, at any predeterimed moment they could have been taken out if the need had arisen. There was no risk to the patrol boat or anyone on the beach, the political leaders or the law enforcement agencies, the worst they could have faced was maybe getting wet.

For sure we don't know it the boat was loaded with explosives and they were all suicide bombers but a bloody stupid way to blow yourself up in the middle of the sea and no target within a mile of you. I would be fairly certain the authorities knew exactly who they were names and addresses the lot and I wouldn't be surpirsed either if the protesters had already informed the authorities of what there intentions were. The protesters would know the risk and probably offered all their details to the police before hand therefore minimising the risk to themselves. The fact that the patrol boat and others in the vacinity made no attempt afterwards to drag them out of the water or cover them with weapons indicates they knew who they were and the fact they stayed close too were not too concerned with the RIB blowing up with C4!

In all I still maintain it was a very heavy handed way to deal with a risk that any commander on the ground would see as fairly low risk to his officers or those he was protecting at that point in time, perhaps it could have escalated if the protesters ran their boat up on the beach but there was certainly no evidence they were about to do that, they were just playing cat and mouse with the patrol boat again to raise the awarness of their polical protest.

One thing is for sure if that protesters RIB was trying get between a whaling ship and a whale and that was a Japanese patrol boat the reaction on here would be somewhat different!.............

Does this lead one to the conclusion that is now ok to ram at 60 mph a joyrider with a 4X4 plod car on an open road with no other vehicles around with such force as to put the vehicle on its roof with the possibilty of killing everyone inside!. No one would side with someone nicking your car but do they need to be potentially killed by the state for doing so. My understanding in civilised society is that the enforcement authorities are to use the minimum force nessacary to contain a criminal or persons considered a threat to the public. This situation did not seem to be minimal force considering the level of threat. In fact had the incident turned out badly for the protesters it would have been a huge media coop for the protesters, IMHO a very badly handled incident by the authorties and if I were a senior officer in charge I would want some serious answers as to why.
 
Could the authorities be absolutely sure the "protesters" were not some lunatics bent on destruction. Had these people been intent on taking lives, the officers on that boat could very well have been taken out.

They were warned once and didn't heed the warning. It was very foolhardy to continue after that point and put the lives of others at risk along with themselves.

Nowadays, suicide bombers can be men women and children....they stoop to the lowest level. I personally think the authorities acted firmly and fairly, whilst risking their own lives!
 
I think one only has to remember the USS Cole to understand why the security forces are more than a little "twitchy" about high speed RIBs.
 
I take your point however in this case it was obvious the RIB was trying to evade the authorities rather than take them out, had their action been of a aggressive nature I would agree. In this case even a warning burst of fire would have been less dangerous than the action they took. I my view the officer in charge of the patrol boat took unnessacary risks with not only the lives of the protesters but also his own crew.

Assessment of situations is part of law enforcement and taking appropriate action to counter the level of threat, I doubt the assessment of this incident was measured with clear intent of what action should be taken, it would be inconceivable that the authorities were not aware long before the incident what was the RIB's intent. I would still state that it was a bad call by the officer in charge.

By this measure of response to a percieved threat anyone, absolutely anyone acting in a manner not pre approved or authorised should be rammed, shot or taken out by any means possible.


Blimey I am on one tonight, what the heck is in this coffee?
 
It's plainly obvious, people here have differing views on this subject. I think this indicates how difficult it must be in these circumstances, to make the "right" decision.

As it happens, these people may not have had any desire to maim or take lives, but as someone pointed out earlier in the thread.....the authorities are damned if they do and damned if they dont!

I suppose we should all be grateful that there has been no loss of life, whether the situation was dealt with in the right or the wrong manner!

Gimmee another swig o' that coffee! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I agree that the second clip was a little OTT - I doubt the skipper intended that to happen, but if his instructions are to keep an area clear then that is what he must do. I have no idea on the layout of the surrounding area or where there might be any sort of security risk.

If you break into a military base in the UK you WILL be stopped by force. I wouldn't expect a security cordon to be any different.

As for heavy handed dealing with legitimate protesters - ie the Hunting protest I can't really comment as I don't pay too much attention to the protest or the way it is dealt with. I do believe in free speech however, I also recognise the right and need to control where that right is exercised to protect the rights of others. In todays world an angry protester might just shout out ... however, they might just turn violent as well - why take the risk. Warn them, give them an option to stop peacefully or retreat to a more suitable location, if that is not heeded take them out. Simple!
Grey areas are who decides what is suitable ...
 
Last time I went to visit a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, I went in at 30+knts out of mist with visibility down to under half a mile. When it came into view, there were half a dozen support craft on a direct line to me.

I did the sensible thing and turned hard to show I wasn't on a collision course.

If people want to make political statements, fine. But buggering about on high speed boats when world leaders are there is asking to be taken out. IMHO
 
If you look at the clip where the protesters fell out of their rib it looks like they actually try to cut in front of the police launch rather than the police launch taking them out. I also believe the aim of the launch is to swamp the rib rather than hit it. Look at the clips you'll see the launch often does a crash stop swamping the rib.

Lets look at the incident in reality. We have the world leaders assembled and a bunch of lefties in a rib who's intentions and capabilities were unknow........ I believe they got off lightly.
 
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Better that than four people lying dead floating face down in the water!

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What four people were "lying dead floating face down in the water!"
 
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