This week’s episode continues my attempt to understand, and share with readers and listeners my understanding, of what police think about when they face a crowd of protesters with something to say about a divisive issue. I’ve been writing about this stuff for close to two years, it was never really part of a plan, and it began when several police witnesses, including Marcel Beaudin, testified at the Rouleau Commission investigating the Trudeau government’s handling of the Freedom Convoy.
Beaudin’s currently on a different assignment, but for years he’s headed the Ontario Provincial Police’s Provincial Liaison Team (PLT), which seeks to get to know protest leaders better, and to help them make their point so they can go home satisfied. Obviously it went a little pear-shaped in Ottawa in February 2022, but that’s a long story. I’m still fascinated by the theory.
I wrote about Beaudin in this book, and he was the focus of this excerpt from the book, which was published in the Globe and Mail. The story of policing the Freedom Convoy was in large part a story about disagreement within and among police forces about how to handle big crowds. So my feature interview with Ottawa Police Service chief Eric Stubbs, who arrived on the job after the Convoy to apply obvious lessons, is also part of my coverage. Finally, this long post from the beginning of this year summarizes everything I’ve learned about evolving police theory from other countries, including the UK, US and France.
