Police across the UK dealt with more than 3,000 protests over three months this summer – more than three times as many as just two years ago.
There were 3,081 protests this June, July, and August across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council have revealed.
Last summer, when riots were raging across the country following the Southport murders, police dealt with 2,942 protests. In 2023, it was 928.
The summer months this year have been dominated by widespread demonstrations, some against the ban on Palestine Action and others against housing asylum seekers in hotels.
‘Increasing tension’
Gavin Stephens, chairman of the NPCC, said it was clear that there has been “more community tension and more division”, adding that “we all have a responsibility, policing included, to set the tone”.
“Anybody in a leadership position should think about how we can reduce and defuse tensions and not sow division,” Mr Stephens said.
The senior official said protests this year were a “chronic pressure” for police compared to last year’s disorder, which was acute.
“This is not talking about the volume of protest, and this is not a commentary from policing on people’s right to protest peacefully,” he said.
“We absolutely support that in a democracy, but we do know that there is a climate of increasing tension and polarity in what we’re seeing.”
He is convinced communities will be able to reunite and “reset”, and said claims that the UK is on the verge of civil disobedience are “exaggerated”.
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It comes as policing leaders are pushing for a major restructuring of forces in England and Wales, hoping to bring more powers to a national level.
They also want to overhaul how funding is calculated for each force.
A government white paper on potential changes to the service is expected to be published in the coming months.
