Thesis May Be Published Without Proper Acknowledgment
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Performance and Dialogue – An Ethnographic Study into Police Liaison Teams Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leeds, School of Law By Miss Ashley Kilgallon BA (Hons) University of Exeter, MA University of Leeds December, 2019 2 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotations from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgment. The right of Ashley Kilgallon to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by Ashley Kilgallon in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 3 Acknowledgments: I would like to thank my supervisor’s Dr Conor O’Reilly and Dr Anna Barker for their generous support, advice and feedback throughout the preparation of this thesis. I would also like to thank the ESRC for the funding to carry out this piece of research. Thanks also to my examiners Professor Stuart Lister and Dr Megan O’Neill, the thesis is stronger as a result of your insightful comments. There are so many police officers who I am indebted to for their generous time, support and guidance throughout my fieldwork. Keith Leahy and Jim McAllister for their continued help, both always had the time to assist in my learning about public order and never failed to make me think (or laugh!). Thanks too to Leonie Jackaman and Becky McKeown. From the earlier days of fieldwork, I would also like to thank Matt Hardcastle and Niamh Maguire. To Colin Morgan and subsequently Jon Williams for supporting. Colin especially, for going above and beyond in assisting me in keeping this study going. Thanks also to Lynne Owens for early conversations about PLT. Thanks to Jane Connors for such interesting and informative discussions. To Ben Linton for your support and guidance, but far more importantly, for our friendship. I would also like to thank both Katie Harber and Phil Davies for more recently recognising the challenges of working full-time while trying to finish my thesis and supporting my flexi-working – the past five months would have been impossible without it. Finally, thank you to every single police officer who contributed to my fieldwork and volunteered for interviews, please know just how grateful I am for all the time you gave in helping me. To my favourite little-people in the world: Mark, Molly and Matilda. Your cheeky characters, humour and spark have kept the light shining for me during some darker times. Thank you for all the cuddles and kisses – you mean the world to me. I love you to the moon and back again. To Elizabeth, my far-away friend, who has continued to be my personal cheerleader throughout this whole period. To my mum who provides for me in a way that only a mother can. You’ve supported me throughout this entire time, never once questioning if I could achieve my doctorate. We take the love and care of mothers for granted too often, I know I do, but please know just how much I appreciate all that you do and just how much I love you. Finally, to my pops. Words cannot articulate how much your love, support and fighting-talk has got me through the past four years. I often think of that coffee we shared in London, when I questioned if I could keep going with my studies – how far I have come since then. This thesis is as much yours as it is mine. My passion and love for policing is founded in all our conversations and debates. I hope this thesis makes you proud. 4 Abstract Scholarly discussions on public-order policing often centre on the role of paramilitary policing tactics, only recently has the role of dialogue become more prominent within the field. This thesis primarily focuses upon a dialogue-focused public-order policing tactic – the Police Liaison Teams (PLTs) – operating within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in London, England. The thesis draws on data collected over a 13-month ethnographic immersion in the MPS’ public-order unit. This data was gathered during a doctoral studentship within the MPS over the period of 2015-2017. This thesis is fundamentally concerned with understanding how dialogue impacts social order within a public-order policing setting. From a micro-sociological perspective, the research seeks to understand the structures behind dialogic behaviours that Police Liaison Officers (PLOs) engage in when attempting to establish a form of ‘order’. The aim of the research is to consider the role dialogue plays during police-citizen interaction at public order policing events – specifically protests and a street-based carnival. This will be understood primarily through the perspective of uniformed officers and, more specifically, officers occupying the tactical role of PLO. Though reference will also be made to officers within other public order policing roles. Applying a dramaturgical conceptual framework, this thesis provides new insights into a lesser studied area of public-order policing. Within PLT-citizen interaction the significance of performance when interpreting actions is central. Framing the interpretation of police work using Goffman’s theories facilitates a more nuanced investigation into the ‘everyday’ behaviours within policing. My research develops our conceptual understanding of the policing of crowds still further, exploring on a micro level police-citizen interaction and the communicative structures that govern this. 5 Table of Contents: Title Page 1 Intellectual Property and Publication Statement 2 Acknowledgment Page 3 Abstract 4 Table of Content 5 List of Abbreviations, Images and Tables: 8 List of Images 9 List of Tables 9 Part I: Introduction, Literature and Methods 10 Introduction 11 Aims and Objectives of the Thesis 12 Conceptual Shift 14 Policy Shift 16 Theoretical Framework 18 Methodological Approach 19 The MPS Context 20 Thesis Outline 21 Chapter I: From Dialogue Policing to Police 24 Liaison Teams Origin of the Police Liaison Team – ‘Dialogue 25 Police’ Dialogue Policing: Operational Structure 28 Adapting to Protest 31 Good Practice for Dialogue and Communication 32 (GODIAC) Project Police Liaison Team Structure 33 PLT Deployment 34 Challenges and Future for the PLT Role 35 PLTs and Legitimacy 37 Conclusion 41 Chapter II: Locating Dialogue in Public 43 Order Policing Part I: What Do the Police Do? The Policing 43 Mandate Policing Mandate – Law Enforcement/Crime 45 Control Policing Mandate – Social Control 47 Policing Mandate – The Moral Order 50 Part II: Locating Dialogue Policing and PLTs 52 Within Public Order Policing Literature Control 53 Police/Crowd Violence and Militarisation 58 Negotiated Management and Communication 65 Critical Reflection on Communication 69 Police Knowledge 73 6 Conclusion 75 Chapter III: Finding the Right ‘Frame’ - 77 Goffman and Policing Managing Faces: Roles, Performance and Self- 78 Presentation Relating in Public: Interacting with ‘the other’ 82 and team-work Spoiling Careers: Deviance, Stigma and Moral 88 Trajectories Conclusion 91 Chapter IV: Methodology 93 Ethnography 93 Limitations of Ethnography 94 Policing Ethnography 97 Negotiating Access 99 Getting In 100 Getting On 101 The different ‘sights’ of fieldwork 106 Fieldnotes 112 Sampling 114 Interviews 116 Analysis 116 Presentation of Self 118 Critical Reflexivity – locating the self within 123 research Fieldwork positioning and ‘Going Native’ 126 Conclusion 130 Part II: Research Findings 132 Chapter V: Training and Socialisation 133 General Training Background 134 Level-Two and the Absence of Dialogue 138 PLT Training and the Absence of Dialogue 148 Role Front – Appearance & Uniform 150 Uniform, Communication & Identity 159 Shifting the Policing Performance 160 Storytelling 164 Conclusion 166 Chapter VI: Protest 168 Back-Stage Interaction: Planning Meetings 169 Staging the Meeting 171 Chain of Command 174 The Performative Nature of Meetings 176 ‘Outsiders’ 177 Framing the Front-Stage: Space, Control and 183 Interaction at Protest 7 Calculated Communication: Miscommunication, 196 Deception and Lying Conclusion 203 Chapter VII: Notting Hill Carnival 205 The Notting Hill Carnival 206 PLTs and Carnival 208 Part I: Impression Management 213 Pre-Planning Notting Hill Carnival & Strategic 213 Dialogue Strategic External Dialogue – Pre-Carnival Raids 213 Strategic Internal Dialogue – Pre-Carnival 217 Briefings Part II: The Event 220 PLO Interaction: Operating Within the Context 220 of a Professionally Spoiled Identity Co-Production of Order Through Teamwork 229 Conclusion 236 Part Three: Research Conclusions 238 Chapter VIII: Conclusions & Implications 239 Objectives of the Study 240 Conceptual Shift 244 Policy 246 Future Research 249 Final Note 249 Bibliography 251 Appendices Appendix One 266 Appendix Two 268 Appendix Three 269 Appendix Four 270 Appendix Five 273 8 List of Abbreviations, Images and Tables: ACPO Association of Chief Police Officers, now the National Police Chiefs Council APP Authorised Professional Practice Bronze (Bx.) Responsible for developing a tactical plan for specific geographical locations Cadre Officers Inspector or above who receive specialised training to plan public order operations CCTV Closed Circuit Television CID Criminal Investigation Department Gold (Gx.) Strategic lead for a public order operation HMIC Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary Level-One Highest form of specialist public order training available – TSG officers are Level-One trained.