Political Violence and the Response

Abstract

As the Metropolitan Police was in part born out of political violence and since 1829 has found itself continually having to deal with it at varying levels, I find some difficulty in fixing a starting point for this Chapter. If for no other reason than that of lack of space, I will choose 1970. That year and since has the added advantage of being relatively fresh in our memories and provides an interesting range of subject matter to review. However, it is fair to point out that no matter at which point in police history one addresses this subject the definition spectrum of police interest and responsibility is wide — wider than that of almost any other agency — and is likely to look very similar no matter at which point in time one chooses to look at the subject.