Avon and Somerset PCC candidates disagree over protest policing

Several riot vans and police cars were set on fire during the protest on 21 March

Police and crime commissioner candidates have disagreed over the policing of recent protests.

Bristol has been at the centre of several Kill the Bill marches, one of which descended into violent disorder.

Some of the people standing to be Avon and Somerset PCC said they supported how the events had been handled.

But one called for an independent inquiry, and another said officers should not have been asked to "suppress peaceful protest".

The election to replace the current PCC, Sue Mountstevens, will take place on 6 May.

Police and Crime Commissioners set the forces' budgets, set the priorities for their senior staff and can hire and fire chief constables.

Mark Shelford said it was "outrageous" that the "very people who keep us safe" were attacked

Appearing on the Politics West show, all five candidates were asked if they thought police had been "too tough or too soft" during the multiple protests in Bristol.

Conservative candidate Mark Shelford said police had shown "terrific, courageous restraint" when reacting to what he described as "riots".

"It was outrageous that a mob should attack the police, the very people who keep us safe," he said.

• Further protest arrests

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Kerry Barker is a barrister with 50 years’ experience in the Criminal Justice System

Labour candidate Kerry Barker, a barrister, largely agreed.

"The scenes we saw on that Sunday night [21 March] were dreadful," he said.

"There were a bunch of thugs there, attacking the police."

Independent candidate John Smith, who spent 10 years as deputy police and crime commissioner with Avon and Somerset, also defended police tactics.

"Sunday 21 March was not a peaceful protest, however you describe it. It was extremely violent," he said.

Cleo Lake said she wanted an independent inquiry into how the protests were policed

But Green Party candidate Cleo Lake, a former Lord Mayor of Bristol, and Liberal Democrat candidate Heather Shearer, said they had concerns.

"I think it's been a traumatic experience for both our police and the protesters, people who are quite rightly standing against this Police and Crime Bill, because they know that their rights to peaceful protest are under threat," said Mrs Lake.

"And we also know that marginalised communities also feel in danger of having their way of life scrapped, effectively, by this bill.

"I do not agree with how some of the protests were handled by the police, of course there are other elements to it and I think it's incredibly important, and I've called for, an independent inquiry."

'Right to free speech'

Mrs Shearer said she had sympathy for individual officers who had been "asked to suppress peaceful protests".

"They were being asked to enforce a law that was in direct contradiction to an existing law around peaceful protest and the right to free speech," she said.

Heather Shearer said police "were being asked to enforce a law that was in direct contradiction to an existing law"

"It was the officers who were hung out to dry, in a sense, by the senior leadership. I think, and the government.

"Underneath the uniform is a human being and nobody wants to see violence of that kind - against anybody."

Mr Barker, Mr Smith and Mr Shelford did concede that where individual officers had gone too far, it should be investigated.

• Riot police disperse protesters

Mr Barker said: "We also saw on that Friday night, some police officers hitting people who were sat on the ground, hitting them with their shields and batons.

"That's also unlawful, and we have to detect those crimes too."

John Smith is the former deputy Police and Crime Commissioner

Mr Smith said "it was right" that the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) had looked into reports of officers using excessive force.

Current Avon and Somerset chief constable Andy Marsh is also standing down this summer.

Here is a guide to what PCCs do in their official capacity.