ABSTRACT
Commentary on public order policing has been dominated by the analysis of riot and riot control. Inevitably, perhaps, this has created an image of policing that is aggressive, not to say violent, and oppressive. It has led commentators to fear for the health of “policing by consent” (Northam 1988) and for the future of democracy itself (Manwaring-White 1983, Jefferson 1990). These fears have been entertained on the iceberg principle: police battling with rioters and pickets is just the visible part of an iceberg of coercion.
