Police at Stoke - Disgusting Behaviour

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Richyboro said:
Apparently there was a 'jolly' boys outing planned.
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Whatever "outing" was planned does that justify a major police operation penning in the entire Boro away crowd? Without any communication. And use of pepper spray. Most of us would think not.
Since publishing this letter on twitter a couple of fans from other clubs have come forward complaining of similar treatment in the west Midlands area at the hands of West Midlands police and Staff police again.
 
A month on from the match, and I've had a response asking me to send them a witness statement, which of course they already have because it was the basis of my complaint in the first place. Bit annoyed that they've sat on it for a month, but at least it means that anyone who hasn't put a complaint in yet still has time to do. They are also asking for footage if anyone has any.
 
clay said:
They've now formally refused my FOI request.

View attachment 32776View attachment 32777
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Should keep going - find out when the "ongoing investigation" is due to be concluded?
Have all those witnesses and victims who provided evidence been contacted?
If Staffordshire Police "Does not hold this information" - then who does?
Do Staffordshire Police truthfully expect us to believe they dont know which senior officers in the chain-of-command, organised and procured the human resources and weapons used by "their" (?) force on that afternoon in Stoke?
Is the "ongoing investigation" by another Police Force and if so - by whom?
Who ordered the investigation?
Has the office of the Home Secretary been informed of the "investigation" by Staffordshire Police?

.........
 
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My appeal against their FOI denial was partially successful. They've supplied their risk assessment (Silver Commander Log), but the redactions are ridiculous and render most of the document meaningless.

I won't get around to fully analysing it for a while, but so far the first things I've spotted are:
- They clearly received a lot of info about specific Boro fans they consider a risk. The redacted sections have bullet points that look to me like a list of names.
- There are several unredacted areas of policy that they have breached. The two that stand out are "where we can, we will use all opportunities to explain police activity and pursue a "no surprises" approach in our dealings with those at or affected by each fixture" (they didn't tell us a thing, and refused to enter into any dialogue with fans before, during or after our detainment) and "Where positive police action is required, make every effort to take action against the perpetrators and not group" (ha!).

Most significantly, there's one area where I felt from the outset they had massively screwed up, and this document confirms it. I won't be sharing that for obvious reasons, but I am taking it further.

One part of the document states that "The Stoke DFO has already commenced engagement with the Clubs and where possible the key members of the Fan based groups". Can @fmttmadmin confirm with members of the Boro Fans Forum that in fact there was no prior engagement with any Boro fans groups?
 
I have had a read through as best I can, as you say unfortunately a lot of the information has been blanked out. As far as members of MSF are concerned, no prior engagement was made with fan groups ahead of the game.

Some interesting parts to the document, especially around policing style and tone of officers:

''Policing Style and Tone Officers will consider each fixture to be a sporting event with a policing overlay. They will be briefed to be engaging, friendly, and approachable and will be encouraged to interact with supporters in a way that promotes legitimacy and reassurance whilst being guided by COVID related advice. All officers will be briefed on and be vigilant to the risks laid out in the threat assessment for each fixture and will be prompt, assertive and effective in their dealing with any matters that require a policing response. Where we can, we will use all opportunities to explain police activity and pursue a “no surprises” approach in our dealings with those at or affected by each fixture. Community Policing – Be visible & reassure (communicate – meet, greet and engage). Facilitate – Where possible and appropriate make all attempts to facilitate the needs of all supporters. Differentiate – Where positive police action is required, make every effort to take action against the perpetrators and not group – gain and keep legitimacy. Use of Force – Use the absolute minimum ‘use of force’ required to achieve the lawful objective''

I have contacted the case manager for the investigation and asked for an update on progress.
 
Anyone had a recent update? I don't think I've heard anything from them since March.
 
clay said:
Anyone had a recent update? I don't think I've heard anything from them since March.
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I had an update in May from the case manager. See below. I chase him on a regular basis.

The report which I have finished is, for independence, with the West Midlands Police for them to review our tactics and actions on the day.

This has been allocated to one of their Public Order and Football Policing instructors for him to review.

I anticipate the report being back in the next few weeks. When I get the report back I will update you further.
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Mark_MSF said:
I have had a read through as best I can, as you say unfortunately a lot of the information has been blanked out. As far as members of MSF are concerned, no prior engagement was made with fan groups ahead of the game.

Some interesting parts to the document, especially around policing style and tone of officers:

''Policing Style and Tone Officers will consider each fixture to be a sporting event with a policing overlay. They will be briefed to be engaging, friendly, and approachable and will be encouraged to interact with supporters in a way that promotes legitimacy and reassurance whilst being guided by COVID related advice. All officers will be briefed on and be vigilant to the risks laid out in the threat assessment for each fixture and will be prompt, assertive and effective in their dealing with any matters that require a policing response. Where we can, we will use all opportunities to explain police activity and pursue a “no surprises” approach in our dealings with those at or affected by each fixture. Community Policing – Be visible & reassure (communicate – meet, greet and engage). Facilitate – Where possible and appropriate make all attempts to facilitate the needs of all supporters. Differentiate – Where positive police action is required, make every effort to take action against the perpetrators and not group – gain and keep legitimacy. Use of Force – Use the absolute minimum ‘use of force’ required to achieve the lawful objective''

I have contacted the case manager for the investigation and asked for an update on progress.
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I think the majority of that document, if not all of it, is a standard 'cut and paste' from any football match they police - the interesting bits are all redacted.

I also noticed that the category of the match is redacted too, but I can't think of a legitimate reason why?
 
Good testing ground for kettling, crowd control and use of armour. A foretaste of Police strategy and tactics for coming seasons?
Under Pritti and Johnsons Government, aggressive interventions and military - style tactics have become crucial elements of their armoury. Its much like Thatchers treatment of the Miners and South Yorkshire Police lies and utter contempt for football fans. Backed by media owned by a few rich billionaires like The S*n and Talkspit - whose narrative is constant highlighting a few incidents and portraying them as endemic in football - to enable more aggressive interventions and control of people at organised events.
 
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