Covid-19: How police manage protest not a question of power, but how they want to use it - expert
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English - February 20, 2022 19:17 - 6 minutes - 5.95 MBNews Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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How the police deal with the 1000-odd protesters around Parliament is not a question of whether they have the power; but whether the police want to use that power to enforce the law according to a legal expert.
At the weekend, Canadian police used batons and pepper spray to disperse protesters in Ottawa.
However, New Zealand's police say they're hoping to avoid such tactics here because people would get hurt.
Instead they are focused on engaging with key leaders in good faith, while stamping out bad behaviour such as intimidation, abuse and violence.
Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis spoke to Corin Dann.