Why and How we Engage with the Police

Action AWE is a nonviolent campaign dedicated to ridding the UK of nuclear weapons and encouraging the UK to uphold international law and take responsible action for global disarmament.

Our commitment to nonviolence includes communication with those we are in ‘opposition’ to and as the police are often in the front line during protests we engage in what we call Police Liaison. We consider the police ‘our’ police force – they are part of our society and our taxes pay for their services.

Protesters are also a valuable part of our society and peaceful protest is a valid process of democratic change, enabling the very necessary transformation of our society towards a more compassionate and just society. Civil liberties are always under threat and thus we need to remind the police that we have a right to protest.

Peaceful change through nonviolent direct action is a method that transforms ourselves and others and is consistent with the results we hope to achieve. We wish our society to be transparent and accountable and thus we use methods that are both.

At present 2 or 3 people are engaging with the police and are part of the Action AWE Police Liaison Team. They are already communicating with the police and their emails and discussions can be viewed below.

What we do:

· explain the overall aims of the campaign and that we are nonviolent and what our nonviolence guidelines are by directing them to our website at http://actionawe.org/non-violence-guidelines/ and engaging in discussion about what they mean

· explain our understanding of International Humanitarian Law, why nuclear weapons undermines the law and why the police (as law enforcers) should work with us to stop illegal preparations for mass murder

· explain that groups and individuals taking part in Action AWE are autonomous and are responsible for their own actions and are only ‘owned’ as Action AWE if they adhere to the nonviolence guidelines

· explain that each individual group involved in supporting AAWE decides for itself whether it wants to liaise with the police on behalf of their group

· act as a conduit for information to and from the police whilst ensuring that they understand we cannot speak or decide for the groups taking part in Action AWE events

· monitor police behaviour and advocate for best possible practice

· ensure that all our communications with the police are transparent and reported on the website and are thus available for all groups and organisations (including the police themselves).

What we do NOT do:

· give specific information about individual actions or people

· speak on behalf of groups and individuals other than ourselves.