Mob rule v zero tolerance

Towards the end of last week Dundee's news agenda was dominated (covering five pages in Friday's Evening Telegraph) by the visit of Polish football team Śląsk Wrocław to play Dundee United in a Europa League match.

It seems that the Śląsk fans have a reputation for being a bit of a rabble, and so it proved, with Tayside's finest apparently having a bit of trouble controlling the 2,000 or so who descended on Dundee's streets. Of course, as usual it's a bit difficult ascertaining the precise facts of the matter, with some claiming police hadn't done their homework properly, while an opposing view is that they couldn't have anticipated the numbers and nature of the fans who arrived.

Anyway, what's perhaps clear is that there was a good bit more trouble in the city towards the end of last week as compared to that attaching to a normal football match. And as usual there's an element of euphemism in official claims, with a bit of exaggeration in the media reporting.

Thus on the night before the match police claimed that nightclub security staff had experienced a "challenging" evening, while the Courier's lead story the day after was headlined "City centre shut down after Europa match"*, which sounds a bit 'martial law imposed'-ish, but seemed to amount to most pubs and clubs not opening on police advice.

But there were certainly pub and shop windows smashed, various episodes of intimidation and violence, police lines in city centre shopping streets breached, workers and shoppers "absolutely terrified" and the sheer force of numbers meant "pedestrians with pushchairs sent scurrying for cover", with flares and fireworks let off in streets thronging with shoppers.

And yesterday's Tele reported that a sixteen-year-old female had been left with broken ribs after being kicked and punched by Polish fans for wearing a Dundee United t-shirt.

But despite all this, reports suggest that only three arrests were made and that misdemeanours that would normally have been addressed - such as openly drinking alcohol in city centre streets - were ignored and instead a policy of "containment" utilised, presumably on the assumption that a more robust approach could have escalated matters further.

Which in fact seems like normal nighttime economy policing writ large, but what was interesting in Saturday's Courier was that the stories on the Śląsk hooliganism were juxtaposed with an (ostensibly) unrelated article about a zero tolerance approach from Tayside Police to sectarian behaviour during the new SPL season: "Incidents of sectarianism will not be tolerated and will be dealt with robustly if and when they arise."

Which seems to echo what Tayside Police said a couple of days previously when early reports of incidents involving Śląsk fans were dismissed as "boisterous, but good natured" and that criminality would "not be tolerated". Not to mention the usual stuff about an "increased, visible and appropriate" police presence, who will be "proactive in their role".

Which perhaps provides a warning that the political imperatives and soundbites attaching to the SNP Government's crackdown on sectarianism may be derailed when they come into conflict with the realities of policing, as discussed in more detail here. Indeed, one reason that current laws have not been used to address the sectarianism issue at football matches is effectively the same as the policy of 'containment' used in relation to the Polish fans in Dundee last week.

However, what is perhaps more eminently predictable is the lack of honest and open discussion on these matters, with euphemism, hyperbole and soundbites more likely than facts and candour, depending on the context.

In that respect what was equally predictable was the political reaction to last week's police handling of the Śląsk Wrocław invasion of Dundee, with the police joint board vice-convener saying: "I would give the highest praise to Tayside Police over their handling of the fans. It was obvious to the people in the city of Dundee the degree of planning and control exercised by the police and the fact they handled with great ability what could have been very, very nasty acts of vandalism".

Er, the reports suggest that there were "nasty acts of vandalism", so perhaps the good councillor forgot to amend his statement to reflect what actually did happen.

Of course, whatever had taken place - and whether police cocked-up or not - the political reaction would have been much the same. Thus as usual usurping the ideals of local accountability with a pointless exercise in what is more akin to councillor self-regard and self-aggrandisement in that they are indirectly passing judgement on their own role as political overseers.

*The online version is slightly different.