Comment by rablackburn | Hacker News Reader

Comment by rablackburn | Hacker News Reader

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What is effective policing meant to look like in circumstances like this?

This is an unarguably large amount of people practicing civil disobedience. How many police does Ottawa have on hand to deal with it?

All the tactics I can think of to truly control a crowd this size are rather…harsh (lines of riot police and water cannons etc). So if you don’t take that option you’re left with tactical deployment of officers.

Seems like a hard problem to get right. Just because they’re not perfect doesn’t mean they’re not effective.

The fact that they’re seizing weapons caches before any particularly heinous outbreaks of violence makes me think they’re prioritising their resources somewhat effectively?

There are less people engaging in highly disruptive actions such as in the blockade of the border pass or in honking at night than police officers.

The tactics are pretty simple. You order dispersal for disruptive people. If they refuse, you calmly walk towards and past them as a group in riot gear. If they engage in violence, you act in minimal self defence, and if they refuse to move, you continue, slowly pushing them forwards.

If people stay stuck in their trucks or cars, you give them a warning their car is being impounded. If they don't leave by then, you tow it to the side and give a hefty fine, with or without them inside.

It's not a hard problem at all. I've been on the receiving end multiple times. It's only when you start throwing tear gas for no reason or beating up people for fun - which police often does to other groups - that you have unprovoked issues.

As it stands municipal police has done exactly nothing. They haven't even given fines.

The ones seizing weapon caches are the RCMP, under federal jurisdiction. They've recently been allowed to take over the duties of municipal officers because so many of them refuse to do anything.

The response from Toronto police seemed highly effective. The response from Ottawa police was selfies and gaslighting, which ultimately resulted in the police chief resigning.

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