The role of police in monitoring rural conflict, with a focus on public order

Abstract

The policing of public dissent in rural and regional areas is influenced by many factors, including global and state events but also by the dynamics of the localised context of police and activist interaction. This article asserts the importance of dialogue and negotiated management between police and demonstrators in order to facilitate peaceful protest in regional and rural areas. It explores policing approaches of dealing with industrial disputes in regional areas as well as environmental climate change protest. Rural and regional police face the challenges of broad geographical expanses, isolation, fewer resources, limited back-up and equipment, and more distant communication with senior officers than their urban counterparts generally experience in public order situations. The success of dialogue policing and negotiated management of public order is tested in the current era when police are becoming more heavily armed not just in urban but also in regional and rural locations. Rural and regional police are often immersed in tightly-knit local communities and follow a community policing ethos but they are also entrusted to maintain law and order.