The role of the police in securing protest rallies

Osrednja tema diplomskega dela je varovanje protestnih shodov. Mirne protestne shode omogoča ustavno zagotovljena pravica do zbiranja in združevanja, ki je hkrati del vseh razvitih demokratičnih družb. V času epidemije SARS-CoV-2 so se v javnosti pojavljala namigovanja o pregrobem posredovanju policije na protestnih shodih. V tistem času je bila večina odmevnejših protestnih shodov neprijavljena, kar pomeni, da je ključno vlogo pri varovanju prevzela policija. Pri varovanju takšnih shodov ima policija različne zadolžitve. V njeno domeno sodi pridobivanje podatkov in sodelovanje z neformalnim organizatorjem. Te podatke policija uporabi pri izdelavi ocene stopnje tveganja, ki kasneje služi kot podlaga za izdelavo načrta varovanja. V diplomskem delu je podrobneje opisana vsebina načrtov varovanja, ki je v glavnem opredeljena z uredbama, ki opredeljujeta organiziranje varovanja. Glavni deli načrta varovanja so ocena tveganja, program varovanja in načrt fizičnega varovanja. Varovanje shodov je zaradi nepredvidljivosti in dinamičnosti množice zahtevna naloga. Zaradi tega in zaradi pomanjkanja predhodnih informacij o naravi shoda lahko pride do različnih anomalijod pomanjkljive priprave na varovanje, do neprimernega odziva varnostnih sil ali množičnih kršitev javnega reda. V diplomskem delu so analizirani nekateri protestni shodi, za katere je policija poročila javno objavila. Ugotovitve kažejo, da je kljub veliki dinamičnosti varovanja moč vplivati na večjo varnost in mirnost shodov z upoštevanjem zakonitosti množic, dobrim načrtovanjem in sprejemanjem pravih odločitev tekom protestnega shoda. Na ta način lahko policija s preventivnim delovanjem agresivnim posameznikom prepreči nasilno vedenje, ki lahko vodi v množične izgrede.The main theme of the thesis is the securing of protest rallies. Peaceful protest rallies are ensured by the constitutionally guaranteed right to assembly and association, which is also inherent in all developed democratic societies. During the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic, there were public allegations of police overreaction at protest rallies. At the time, most of the high-profile protest rallies were unannounced, which meant that the police played a key role in providing security. The police have various roles in securing such gatherings. Its domain is to collect data and work with informal organizers. The police use this information to create a risk assessment, which is then used as the basis for a security plan. The thesis describes in detail the content of the security plans, which is mainly defined by the decree related to the organization of security. The main components of a security plan are the risk assessment, the security program, and the plan of physical security. The unpredictability and dynamic nature of crowds make securing a challenging task. This, and the lack of prior information about the nature of the rally, can lead to various anomaliesfrom the insufficient preparation to an inadequate response by security forces or mass violations of public peace and order. The thesis analyses some of the protest rallies for which police reports have been published. The findings show that, despite the high dynamics of securing, it is possible to make rallies safer and more peaceful by observing the characteristics of crowds, good planning and making the right choices during the protest rallies. In this way, the police can take preventive action to prevent aggressive individuals from engaging in violent behavior that can lead to riots