RTS Oxford - A Little Different From Last Time

Last years Hallowe'en street party in Oxford attracted over 1,000 people and three police officers. Police liaison prior to the event and the evening timetable led to softly softly policing.

Initial police liaison this year suggested that once again everything would be hunky-dory. Not a bit of it. Sergeant Gardner was over-ruled by his Superintendent, whose real name is Cressida Dick. Over eighty police, half a dozen horses and a helicopter were on site for the early afternoon gathering. Despite many party goers having been turned away before getting to the meeting point, around four hundred people arrived and were faced with two hardened cordons of police clearly intent on nobody going anywhere. Nevertheless, various tense 'negotiations' went on and eventually the entire crowd flowed over on to the Cowley Road and a party ensued. Dick thought she could stop Reclaim the Streets. She was wrong. There was a slight problem with the sound systems, however. Sgt Gardner said that Rinkydink was perfectly welcome into the party once it became clear that a party was happening, but Rinkydink had already been escorted out of Oxfordshire three hours previously. 'Sparky' - the solar powered backup was safe and well ... in the police station car-park (and was staying there), so the backup arrived in the shape of the Kingston Sound Network. Casey Neill (he of 'dancing on the ruins...') played a superb live set, as did local band Silas and the Lambs. Ecotrip were also on hand to cook and inform; all in all a damned good party.

There have since been all kinds of recriminations between Oxford RTS and the police, mostly on the letters pages of the local newspaper: how horses charged through the kids area and knocked people flying for example. Local Councillors have lodged complaints with the Police Complaints Commission for aggressive police control tactics - so much for community policing. It is obvious that Oxford police blew it big time: they tried to stop a party and couldn't. Funnily enough, it was in almost the same spot as last year, with slightly fewer people and fifty times as many police. The whole street party was filmed by a BBC documentary crew who should be showing footage on BBC2 at 9.50pm on 21st January.