Kettling, lazy policing and fan danger

Kettling, def., the confinement by police of a group of demonstrators or protesters in a small area, as a method of crowd control.  The kettling of football fans now appears to be a standard part of police armoury, in Glasgow as well as in Paris.  As a fan, it feels that police don’t like fans congregating, or even queueing, outside a ground, they would prefer to ‘kettle’ them in a claustrophobic area, where a small number of officers and horses can establish authority over the crowd.

When kettled, you are immediately aware of the danger.  A crowd is a dynamic entity.  Crushing is not inevitable, but everyone is vulnerable to a few bad actors.  Decision making police always seem to be far away from the kettle.  Policies were laid down, probably days earlier, the officers, vehicles and horses involved in the enforcement are, at best, several minutes away from an authorised action to de-escalate an incident.

What happened at the Champions League final, hours before kick-off, a kilometre from the stadium, was lazy and dangerous policing.  French politicians and Uefa officials immediately blamed fans, that hoary old habit.  Fans – people – deserve better.

The police actions in Paris on Saturday evening did not happen spontaneously.  Rioting has been a growing problem in French football since the return of crowds, culminating in an out of control pitch invasion by Saint Etienne fans last night, after a penalty competition consigned them to Ligue 2 next season.  Police response to a legitimate issue, was to profile football fans prejudicial manner.

For decades across Europe, authoritites too lazy or understaffed to police properly, expose fans to danger and intimidation.

After a two year hiatus, the CQN Charity Golf Day will take place at Aberdour on Friday 2 September 2022.  Details will be available soon.