Allyn Thomas, Kent's assistant chief constable, said: "We are also aware of one occasion when officers played music loudly and inappropriately. The police team was quickly identified and sent back to their home force."
But he did not send home the police helicopter which hovered low over the camp every night at 2am and again at 5am waking all the campers.
So don’t give me your bullshit, Mr Thomas, that the attempted sleep deprivation was not part of your tactics but just the actions of a few wayward officers.
The poor quality of Kent Police’s deceptions have been a common theme of this saga. They are not even clever enough to lie convincingly!

Did the police obtain appropriate permission from the PPL/PRS before playing music to the public? There is a requirement to obtain such a licence although i can't find a fee band for 'outdoor psycological operations'. The fee for free outdoor events seems to be in excess of £100.
Will the Police now either produce this licence or pay the appropriate fee forthwith? Should we defend the interests of musicians and report this matter for further investigation and possible action?

For more information see:  http://www.prsformusic.com/Pages/default.aspx

The police are not above the law.

I read "the inspectors blog" blog (and others) as a sort of reality check. Froim reading it it seems that "normal" police have some sympathy with what we do and why we do it:

 http://inspectorgadget.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/kingsnorth-police-criticised-over-cost-shock/

I can only conclude that organisations such as ACPO, NETCU etc are not police organisations as some would wish us to believe but instruments of political control put in place to serve the interests of the rich, powerful and well connected.

Next time a policeman wants to talk to you take time to explain this to him.

Nectu and Acpo are private companies and under no other control than the senior police officers who set them up. As private organistions they are not answerable or under the control of any elected body nor are they in any other way publicly accountable. The way in which the media refers and bows to them has created and maintains the myth that they in are in some way public bodies. this is not true..

You should also ignore 'bemused' suggestion about talking to the police. So what if a few on a blog somewhere seem in someway sympathetic to us. They are employed by the police, they are skilled at getting info from you that may later harm you or fellow campaigners. They can seem as nice as pie and write what they want on a blog but in all my years I have never seen one refuse to put on riot gear when ordered and attack peaceful men women and children with baton and pepper spray.

If you want to survive the safe option is not to trust any of them.

please take the trouble to read and understand what i am saying before misquoting me. otherwise you risk being mistaken for a police troll on a mission to make everyone paranoid.

stay alert, stay safe.

Much of the details which are now being published about the policing operation were covered at the time by Indymedia, but not in 99% of the media (really only the local paper Medway Messenger provided anything near ongoing accurate coverage and highlighted many of the dirty tricks etc).

This is why Indymedia is so important - thanks for all your efforts.

Anyone got a link to the report?